15-05-2025
Mysuru Development Authority Act 2024 gazette notified
The Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation has issued the gazette notification for the Mysuru Development Authority (MDA) Act, 2024, consequent to the Governor giving his consent for it.
The gazette notification was published on Wednesday, and the MDA will replace the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) which, in its earlier avatar, was called the City Improvement Trust Board.
The Bill renaming MUDA to MDA on the lines of BDA in Bengaluru was passed in the Belagavi session of the Assembly in December 2024. It came at a time when the urban development authority was mired in scandal pertaining to the allotment of sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife, which led to a political firestorm and investigations.
The MUDA Commissioner A.N. Raghunandan said this was a gazette notification announcing the MDA Act, and the Urban Development Department will issue an official notification in due course.
As per the Act, the MDA shall have a chairman, a finance member, an engineer, a town planner, and an architect, while the Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner will be the ex-officio member.
In addition, it will have an officer of the Karnataka government Secretariat, Department of Urban Development, and not below the rank of Deputy Secretary to the government. Unlike under MUDA, where all MLAs and MLCs from the MUDA jurisdiction were members, the MDA will have one person who is a member of the Karnataka State Legislature.
The objective of the MDA is to promote and secure the development of the Mysuru Local Planning Area, and it shall have the power to acquire, hold, manage, and dispose of moveable and immovable property within its area of jurisdiction.
Chapter VII of the Act stipulates the Constitution of the Mysuru Heritage Building Protection Commission for the local planning area. It shall comprise a chairman and such other members representing, among others, visual arts or architecture, Indian history or Archaeology, and the environment science.
The duty of the Arts Commission is to make recommendations to the government on restoration and conservation of urban design and of the environment in the development of areas, the planning and development of future urban design, restoration and conservation of archaeological and historical sites, and those of high scenic beauty, as per the Act.
