MYSURU: The state government’s ambitious project to develop a memorial in the city for late actor Vishnuvardhan, keeping with the aspirations of the actor’s kin has run into rough weather again.
A section of farmers, who were cultivating five acres of land identified for the project at Halalu village on Mysuru-Manandavadi Road, have opposed the resumption of works. Following a recent High Court order vacating the civil injunction issued by the local court earlier which ordered both the parties to maintain status quo, the works had resumed at the disputed site only to be stopped by the contending parties.
On June 1, the laying of foundation for the compound and other preliminary works had been taken up when the farmers restrained the contractors from carrying out the works. They allegedly questioned the rationale behind the works on the basis of the court order when there was a provision to appeal at the higher level.
Sensing trouble, the contractors stopped the work. Police security soughtWhen The New Indian Express conducted a reality check, it came to light that following the High Court judgment, office-bearers of Dr Vishnuvardhan Prathishtan, Kanteerava Studio, Bengaluru, had met and decided to expedite the works.
They also filed a petition with the office of the police commissioner and Superintendent of Police in Mysuru on May 27 with a copy marked to the jurisdictional Jayapura police station near to the site in question. Prathishtan member secretary MR Mamatha had succinctly explained that following the resumption of the works by the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd, the farmers have been creating trouble.
Following this, the contractors are also finding it difficult to continue the works. Hence, adequate security arrangements should be made to carry out the task with ease. However, the police in a written reply had conveyed that “suitable action will be taken only after going through the judgment copy.”On the other hand, sheds were built to store construction material and also to accommodate watchmen to look after the site. But nothing took off as expected, with the farmers creating trouble again.
Anirudh confident
Speaking to TNIE, Vishnuvardhan’s son-in-law actor Anirudh said, “I am confident that the works will resume in another week. We have been making efforts to apprise the chief secretary to take suitable action. Moreover, the judgment has come out in favour of the prathishtan with the aggrieved parties abstaining from appearing before the court four times. According to the rules, there is no provision to allot lands within 10 km of the jurisdiction of the city to any private body or trusts.”
The case so far
Following Vishnuvardhan’s death on December 30, 2009, the mortal remains of the actor were cremated on the premises of Abhiman Studio in Bengaluru. However, owing to some dispute, the memorial did not come up at the same site. Later, the kin of the late actor agreed to develop a memorial in Mysuru and the land identified at Halalu was also found suitable. However, when the works were launched in November 2016, the farmers who were cultivating the same land along with additional one acre had opposed it. In February 2017, they filed a petition at a court in Mysuru and also succeeded in bringing a civil injunction order.