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Municipal Finance

Vellore Corporation owes TNEB Rs. 8 crore by way of charges

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The Hindu       20.11.2010

Vellore Corporation owes TNEB Rs. 8 crore by way of charges

Special Correspondent

VELLORE: Electricity charges to the tune of Rs.eight crore are due to be paid by the Vellore Corporation to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), according to K.R. Selvaraj, Commissioner of the Corporation.

The Commissioner gave this information in reply to a question from R. Arunachalam (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), 30th ward councillor of the Corporation at the ordinary monthly meeting of the Corporation here on Friday. Mr. Arunachalam said that the Vellore Corporation was unable to implement the scheme of supply of water through motorised borewell pumps, to provide new street lights or effect extension of existing lines in view of the refusal of the TNEB to provide service connection to the motorised borewell pumpsets and street lights on account of the outstanding arrears in payment of the dues.

The MDMK councillor further pointed out that the Corporation's dues had mounted in view of its failure to collect the consumption-based electricity user charges regularly from the Sathuvachari Municipality and the Nandhiyalam and Alamelu Mangapuram village panchayats for utilising the drinking water pumped from the confluence of the Ponnai and Palar rivers daily under the Integrated Drinking Water Supply Project for Vellore Corporation, Sathuvachari Municipality and wayside panchayats, which were beneficiaries of the of the project.

He suggested that the Vellore Corporation could stop pumping water under the Ponnai scheme in order to force the Sathuvachari Municipality and the wayside village panchayts to pay up the arrears.

If they paid the electricity arrears, the Vellore Corporation would be able to pay the dues to the TNEB, thus facilitating service connections to the motorised borewells, new street lights and line extensions.

Mr. Selvaraj said that if the Vellore Corporation were able to get a daily yield of 100 lakh litres of water from the Karugambuthur, Palar and Otteri headworks, then it would be in a position to stop pumping of water from the Ponnai scheme.

Srinivasa Gandhi (Congress), 25th ward councillor, complained that the stray dog menace is rampant in his ward. Serious steps had to be taken to curb the menace, he said.

The Commissioner said that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Act prohibited the killing of animals.

But, the Corporation could undertake sterilisation measures in order to prevent the growth in the dog population, and to administer anti-rabies injections to the dogs in order to prevent them from being afflicted with rabies, and thus prevent human beings from getting the disease.

Mr. Arunachalam said that the Corporation should also take stern steps to curb the stray cattle menace in Vellore.

V. Govindan, Corporation Health Officer said that the Corporation was currently engaged in gathering division-wise lists of owners of stray cattle so that the lists could be forwarded to the police department for action against them for causing nuisance to the public by allowing their cattle to stray into the roads, thus causing serious traffic hazards to the road users.

P. Karthikeyan, Mayor of Vellore, who presided, said that the fine imposed on owners of stray cattle would be increased from Rs.500 to Rs.1000 so that it acted as a deterrent against their tendency to allow their cattle to roam in the roads.

Since the existing fine was too low, the owners paid the fine and continued to allow their cattle on the roads, he said.

 

Cracker trade: Corporation to lose revenue

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The New Indian Express  02.11.2010

Cracker trade: Corporation to lose revenue

“SUPER” STANDARD: A cop looks at the billboard of a cracker shop which says — Superstar Rajnikanth — Enthiran version on NSC Bose Road in Chennai.

CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation is expected to lose a revenue of Rs 30 lakh or more as it continues to remain clueless about its role in issuing temporary trade licences to set up cracker shops across the city this Deepavali season.

According to rules prescribed to obtain such a licence, traders who plan to set up cracker shops first need to get a no-objection certificate (NOC)  for fire safety from the fire and rescue services department, after paying a facilitation fee of Rs 800 per application.

However, R Nataraj, director, fire and rescue services, denied having collected any facilitation fee for granting an NOC and said the service was free.

Traders should then approach the city police for a law and order NOC by paying Rs 150 as processing fee.

Once the applicants get both the NOCs, they need to approach the zonal officers of the Chennai Corporation with several documents, including the latest receipt of property tax payment, to obtain the mandatory temporary trade licence to set up the shop.

The civic body will then issue a licence under the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919.

The civic officials can charge Rs 1,000 as fee for shops selling less than 50 kg of crackers and Rs 2,000 above it. However, most traders never approach the Corporation as they feel it’s a “tedious process” at its zonal offices.

According to the Corporation’s assistant revenue officers in its 10 zones, they haven’t received a single application seeking a temporary trade licence. However, the fire and rescue services department has cleared about 1,100 applications, while the Chennai Police Commissionerate has cleared about 600 applications so far.

The final number of applications is likely to hover around 1,800 to 2,000.

Speaking to Express, Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan said, “Whoever approaches the civic body for such a licence, we will issue it.”

He also warned that field officials would visit those cracker shops that have failed to pay the licence fee and collect it.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 November 2010 11:09
 

Funds for municipality to tackle water scarcity

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The Hindu  08.10.2010

Funds for municipality to tackle water scarcity

Special Correspondent

VELLORE: A sum of Rs. five lakh has been allotted to the Tharapadavedu Municipality to tackle acute drinking water scarcity, according to Durai Murugan, Minister for Law, Courts and Prisons.

Inaugurating a self-help group building and a fair price shop in the municipality on Thursday, he said that municipal officials should take steps to supply drinking water to residents through lorries. More funds would be provided to the municipality, if necessary.

The government would take steps to bring water to Vellore from the Cauvery in Hogenakkal, as a permanent measure to ease the drinking water scarcity, Mr. Durai Murugan said.

Last Updated on Friday, 08 October 2010 11:22
 


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