Centre asks UT to levy house tax,hike water tariff; councillors say not needed

Dr M Ramachandran,Secretary,Ministry of Urban Development,was in the city on Monday to review projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

In a meeting with representatives of eight states and union territories,Ramachandran said the commitment to carry out reforms like levying house taxes and increasing the user charges for water and sewerage was not fulfilled yet. He said these reforms were needed to fund projects for the city under the JNNURM. Ramachandran also reviewed the status of these projects.

Joint Secretary,JNNURM,P K Srivastava; UT Home Secretary Ram Niwas,Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar,Municipal Commissioner Dr Roshan Sunkaria and other officials were present in the meeting.

Two projects under the scheme are being implemented by the Municipal Corporation in the city.

Under the first project,the water supply infrastructure is being upgraded for proper monitoring and automation with computerised surveillance. Under the second project,10 million gallons per day of sewage water will be treated to tertiary level and used for irrigation purposes. Both the projects are to be completed by December 31 this year.

‘No question of more taxes’

The issue of levying house tax and increasing water tariff has been a bone of contention between officials of the civic body and councillors.

The officials are in favour of the reforms,which “are essential under the JNNURM”. But the councillors oppose any “additional burden” on residents.

Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra said they would continue to oppose the taxes. “Chandigarh has surplus funds. There is no need to impose more taxes. We have fulfilled one of the commitments,which was to have 100 per cent metered water connections in the city. But the move to levy house tax and hike water tariff will be opposed by the party,” he said.

Last year,MC officials had readied the proposals to hike water tariff and impose house tax. But they could not be presented in the House,as former mayor Kamlesh did not approve them.

With MC elections scheduled next week,the possibility of the councillors agreeing to the proposals is less. An official said attempt was made to convince the councillors about levying taxes but they did not agree.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) councillor Jatinder Bhatia said residents have not “really benefited from projects under the JNNURM”. “Even at places where pipelines for treated water have been laid,the supply is not sufficient. Till the residents are satisfied with the projects,there is no question of more taxes being imposed,” Bhatia said.

Another project under the JNNURM is to phase out the CTU buses of with low-floor AC and non-AC buses. The implementing agency for the project is the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU).