Urban News

The Hindu 07.09.2009

Mayor for revival of Nada Kusti

Special Correspondent

Mysore: After a long gap, Sahukar Channiah Kusti Akhada in the city may come to life during Dasara. For, the Mayor Purushottam has evinced interest in reviving wrestling activities at the Akhada or arena which is currently languishing in neglect.

A property of the Mysore City Corporation (MCC), the wrestling arena is a part of the city’s heritage and was the site of various wrestling bouts held during the era of the Maharajas. Though it was given to a wrestlers association on lease, the arena lost much of its hallo following a controversy and the issue is mired in litigation.However, Mr. Purushottam visited the venue on Sunday and evinced interest in reviving wrestling activity at the historic arena and said this year’s Dasara wrestling would be held at the Sahukar Channaiah Kusti Akhada. The wrestling arena has a seating capacity of nearly 25,000 people and there was a time when it played host to weekly bouts.

But over the years the traditional Mysore wrestling also called Nada Kusti, has gone into a decline and the Mayor said he would make efforts not only to revive the wrestling arena but also the traditional Mysore Kusti. “We will ensure that the Nada Kusti is held here during Dasara and we will start new tournaments subsequently so that the sport gets a fillip” said Mr. Purushottam.

The Mayor has envisaged an investment of nearly Rs. 10 lakh to clear up the weeds, provide water and drainage facility and overhaul and revamp the existing seating arena.

The traditional Mysore style of wrestling was patronised by the erstwhile royal family of Mysore and reached its zenith during the 18th and the 19th century. It was among the more interesting pastime for the rural populace and Dasara festivities provided the right platform for the local wrestlers to showcase their skills.

The association of Mysore and the Wadiyars with traditional wrestling is rooted in history and there are historical accounts of Randheera Kanteerava who considered it is beneath its dignity to bow to the diktats of a local chieftain in Tiruchirapalli and defeated him in a bout of wrestling. Reckoned to have been the favourite of the Raja Wadiyar who ruled in the 16th century A.D., it was during the regime of Nalwudi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in the first half of the 20th Century when Nada Kusti attained its peak popularity in modern times.

The Hindu 07.09.2009

Remove water pipes from UGD manholes, contractor told

Staff Correspondent

BELLARY: Bellary Mayor K. Basavaraj has said one week has given one week to the contractors entrusted with the work of laying roads to remove the newly-laid drinking water pipes passing through manholes of the underground drainage system (UGD).

The Mayor’s instruction follows an expose by the media that the newly-laid drinking water and the drainage pipes were running parallel to each at certain places such as Cowl Bazar and the stretch between Durgamma temple and S.P. Circle causing fear of a health hazard among residents.

“We went around the city inspecting the kind of work being turned out by the contractors and found that what the media had reported was true. Immediately, we asked the contractor to remove the drinking water pipelines passing through the manholes and avoid laying the lines parallel to each other,” Mr. Basavaraj told The Hindu.

The corporation had taken up widening of some of the main roads in the city to clear traffic congestion. The estimated cost of the project, being undertaken from Durgamma temple to Sudha Cross and from the first railway gate to the T.B. Sanitorium in Cowl Bazar, is Rs. 100 crore.

The work also provides ducts for electrical connections and other civic amenities on either side so as to avoid digging of the roads in future.

Mr. Basavaraj said that he had asked corporation officials and the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board to conduct an inspection and submit a report besides suggesting corrective measures to be undertaken. He had also instructed the officials to be present on the spot while the pipelines were being re-laid, he said.

Methane

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Board, while expressing concern over the manner in which the drinking water pipelines was being laid, categorically stated that drinking water pipelines should not pass through the manhole of the underground drainage system where methane, a poisonous and highly corrosive gas, is generated and affects the pipes.