VADODARA, Sept 17: In an obvious attempt to raise revenue, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) plans to assess unauthorised houses built on the land falling access under the Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) Act.Municipal Commissioner G R Aloria, in a proposal forwarded to the Standing Committee, has stated that there were about three to four thousand such houses in the city. The proposal is likely to be taken up for discussion at the meeting on Saturday.All these years, the houses were not assessed on the pretext that they are unauthorised. However, the houses will not be authorised even though they are assessed and taxes paid.The VMC has not given building permissions to these houses, which have been sub-let by signing either Rs 10 or Rs 20 stamp papers.The proposal further states that while assessing the houses, the residents would be given a letter, which would clearly state that the houses were not authorised and the VMC had the right to take any action like against unauthorised constructions.The proposal has also pointed out that currently neither the VMC nor the State Government was in a position to demolish these houses.Town Planning Scheme: The VMC has proposed to change reservations of plots for industrial workers and municipal staff. According to Aloria, the reservations needed to be changed in the town planning schemes, as the purpose for which they had been marked earlier had been lost.The VMC now intends to construct 1,172 houses for the economically weaker sections of the society. The civic body will seek financial assistance from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). The VMC also plans to repair the existing footpaths in the city.According to information, over the last several years nearly 30 to 40 per cent rough kota stones on the footpaths have been damaged due to laying of service lines to provide civic amenities. The Committee is likely to discuss the issue on Saturday.Trucks Removed: Even as heavy rains continued to lash the city, the VMC on Thursday removed 25 trucks parked in an unauthorised manner in Karelibaug.According to information, the trucks were removed from near the VIP Road, Bright School and Nageshwar Society. Unauthorised eatable shops, which had come up near Sursagar, were also removed.
