The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Friday announced that residents will now be able to avail the facility to correct their names in the records of the civic property tax department, and update the names of owners after transfer of property, among others, at their respective ward offices. The ward offices can now also step in to recover property tax dues. Till now, these tasks were handled by the staff at the civic main building. A ward office normally caters to an area with 3 lakh population. “Citizens come all the way to the civic main building to get their work done. This also puts a load on the staff working in various civic departments in the main building. The decentralisation of powers is necessary for the convenience of citizens who can approach their nearest ward office… also help the civic staff in the main building to focus on other work that can be managed at the ward level,” said Pune Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram. The ward officer has been appointed as the nodal officer for the anti-encroachment and advertisement departments, while the head office of the respective departments would provide the required manpower and vehicles for the purpose. Meanwhile, the licence for pet animals will be issued at the ward office after applying through the online system. “The civic body has started the online system for issuing licences for pet animals. Earlier, these applications, after verification at the ward office, used to come for approval at the civic health department, but now the ward medical officer can issue the licence,” said Sarika Punde, Veterinary Officer, PMC. It was also announced that the licence for operating beauty parlours, salons, spas, lodges, boardings and wedding halls will be issued by the respective ward offices. Also, the gardening alongside roads and in the median will be done by the ward office instead of the civic garden department. Further, the development of roads up to 12 metres wide and the maintenance of roads above 12 metres wide will be done by the ward office from now on.
