Corporators from the NDA are mulling to scrap the tax for garbage collection implemented by the Greater Visakhaptnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), which was introduced by the previous YSRCP government, during the upcoming council meeting scheduled to be held on September 10.
Corporators from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) have been discussing the feasibility of scrapping the move by introducing either a proposal in a supplementary agenda or a resolution.
The initiative to collect tax for garbage collection was introduced by the YSRCP government in June 2021, after a proposal was approved by the council. The civic body began collecting ₹120 from individual homes and apartments. The charge ranges from ₹200 to ₹15,000 per month for commercial establishments. The idea was to generate a revenue of around ₹7 crore from residential and commercial assessments. However, collection of these taxes was a huge burden for the corporation due to stiff public resistance.
One of the pre-poll promises of the NDA coalition, comprising the TDP, JSP and BJP, was to scrap the garbage collection tax. A senior TDP corporator, when asked if a proposal would be introduced in this regard, said a final call is yet to be taken.
“We will definitely have the numbers in the upcoming council meeting to introduce and pass proposals. Some of the proposals which were introduced by the previous government have been bitterly opposed by the public. We want to reverse such decisions,” he said.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) corporator B. Ganga Rao submitted a representation to Mayor G. Hari Venkata Kumari asking for the garbage collection tax to be scrapped. He said that he would extend his support for the removal of an “anti-people” initiative.
Published - September 04, 2024 07:52 pm IST
