Mumbai: Corporators at a standing committee meeting on Wednesday asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) not to disconnect water supply to cooperative housing societies (CHS) for defaulting on property taxes.
The issue was raised by Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Gadi, who said certain housing societies had received notices from the BMC threatening them with disconnecting water supply. “There are times when builders leave with huge pending taxes after constructing a society, thus adding to the burden of residents. The BMC should recover money from the builders’ other projects.”
Mangesh Satamkar of the Sena complained that many civic officials are not aware of a 1997 government order that allowed compliant tax collection from CHS occupied by the economically-backward sections, especially slum redevelopment projects. “There are instances when buildings were built in 2001 and given possession in 2010. But, people are made to pay up taxes right from 2002, which isn’t fair.”
Mr. Satamkar said the entire society suffers because of a few defaulters, and suggested that the BMC recover property taxes at an individual level.
Sena’s Ashish Chemburkar said the BMC does not dare to send notices to big conglomerates, which build malls and hotels, but don’t pay up property taxes. “Peninsular Business Park owes ₹235 crore, Kamala Mills Compound, which houses many commercial complexes, has dues of ₹185 crore, and National Sports Club of India owes over ₹52 crore. Though these people earn heavily by hosting commercial events and functions, they don’t bother to pay up their dues to the BMC. Yet, the BMC goes after the middle-class chawl residents in redeveloped societies, which isn’t fair.”
Sporting facilities
Dilip Lande of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena criticised the BMC for closing down sporting facilities at a civic employee’s Krida Bhavan, for hosting commercial events. “How can events be given preference over sporting facilities?”
Meanwhile, the standing committee unanimously sanctioned the concretisation of LBS Road, which runs through the heart of Mumbai’s eastern suburbs, at a cost of ₹137 crore. The committee also cleared a proposal to concretise two roads at Ghatkopar’s Garodia Nagar at a cost of ₹10 crore.
