– Mohammed Atherulla Shariff
Bengaluru, Jan. 2: Just 70 kilometers from here, on Mangalore Road, the famous Stud Farm at Kunigal is likely to go down in history if the real estate sharks’ ambitions become a reality.
The history of the stud farm goes back to the time of Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, who bred horses here for his cavalry to fight the British. Tipu’s name disappeared from the farm long back, and it became a state property, now the farm itself is at the verge of extinction.
Spread over 421.23 acres, the farm is considered the biggest in South Asia. It is divided into 25 paddocks of different sizes. Good pasture is maintained and plants needed for fodder like Alfalfa, Green oats and Rhodes grass are grown here.
The stock breed from here is famous not only in the country, but also overseas. Training facilities for horses, including a riding school is present in the farm. It is the only stud farm in the country owned by a state government.
The stud farm was leased out by the state government to the infamous Vijay Mallya-owned URBB for a period of 30 years in 1992, which expired in September last.
Having won 2,200 races in the country, Mallya is credited with reviving Indian horse racing. But, Kunigal stud farm’s future seemed to have hit a dead end after Mallya moved to London in March 2016, leaving behind a debt of over Rs 9,000 crore to multiple Indian banks.
Names of close relatives of the deputy chief minister DK Shiv Kumar appear behind the proposal of developing a township made before the government. Bangalore Rural MP D.K. Suresh and Kunigal Congress MLA Dr. H.D. Ranganath have reportedly submitted a proposal to develop a township at Kunigal stud farm.
Former Kunigal MLA B.B. Ramaswami Gowda alleged that the proposal was a systematic plan to gobble up the entire land. “If the proposers had the intention of developing the town, they could have started with Kunigal town, which is not properly developed. The bigger plan is to gobble up several parcels of lands attached to this farm at Doddakere, Ramabanada Hanta, Herur Kaval and Begur Kaval,” he said.
“The farm should continue to be owned by the government. It can be handed over to the Home Department’s cavalry division, but not to private entities,” he added.
Former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on December 28, appealing to protect the farm by declaring it as an archaeological monument.
According to Law Minister J.C. Madhuswamy, the state government has not arrived at any firm decision on how to utilise this prime property. “We can think of handing this over to the Agriculture or Horticulture department to set up a grand university instead of leasing out to any private player,” he said.
