GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar has directed officials to crack down on top defaulters from whom most of the civic body’s revenue is due, although they constitute just 20 per cent of the total property tax assessments. The top 1,000 defaulters owe close to Rs. 243 crore to the GHMC.
After consulting Special Commissioner Navin Mittal and other senior officials on Saturday, Mr. Kumar directed the finance wing to concentrate on areas where money is due. The property tax due for the year is Rs. 1,779 crore, while the target is Rs. 1,232 crore. So far, the civic body has collected just Rs. 500 crore.
The Commissioner said that L.B. Nagar, Old City, Rajendranagar, Mehdipatnam, Chintalbasti, Red Hills, Gun Foundry, Himayatnagar, Khairatabad, Banjara Hills, Srinagar Colony, Sanatnagar and Malkajgiri had reported below-par tax collection.
He added that the Municipal Commissioners should take up proper surveys to precisely assess new properties, as only 86 days were left for end of the financial year. The GHMC has to collect Rs. 831 lakh every day to meet the target. Henceforth, the deadline would be February 15 and not March 31, he said.
Meanwhile, the respective Valuation Officers and Deputy Commissioners have been told to finalise a plan of action and submit it by Monday.
Road repairs
Expressing displeasure over the absence of precise information on road conditions, Mr. Kumar told engineers that furnishing proper details would enable him to fix the responsibility on the officer concerned, adding that it would help in taking up immediate repair work.
The engineers of the respective divisions have ordered a survey of stagnation points. If the exercise is done properly, stagnation points can be prevented, the Commissioner said. Details of the repair work taken up should also be displayed.
Drawing the officials’ attention to complaints about encroachments of open spaces belonging to the municipal corporation, Mr. Kumar directed the circle level officials to personally inspect the sites and submit reports for sanctioning construction of compound walls.
