Urban News

Source : The Hindu Date : 01.07.2009

Schools to be exempted from property tax

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The government here on Tuesday decided to exempt all schools in the State having classes upto SSC and also non-governmental organisations doing social service from payment of property tax hereafter.

The decision is applicable to both government and private schools, Municipal Administration Minister A. Ramanarayan Reddy said.

A definition for NGO for the purpose would be worked out.

The Minister said an exercise was on to rationalise the property tax in case of others. Once the structure was finalised, amendments would be made to the relevant laws, incorporating the changes.

He told reporters later that as decided earlier, government treasuries would begin to pay salaries to all the 40,949 employees of the municipalities and corporations from Wednesday.

He said in case of the poor in slums, regularisation of more than 80 square yards of site would be considered under GO No 166.

The Layout Regulation Scheme would be amended accordingly.

New master plan

Mr. Reddy said a new master plan was being prepared for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation as the existing two master plans, one for core area and another for peripherals, lacked the cohesion.

He said drinking water, drainage, sanitation and road facilities would be provided to all the 7,505 slums in the State by 2014, thus making Andhra Pradesh slums-free and steps would be taken to ensure 24x7 water supply in all the municipal areas by 2011.

Source : The Hindu Date : 01.07.2009

Discussion on increase in water charges put off

Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE: An all-party meeting at the Coimbatore Corporation on Tuesday put off discussions on the proposal to increase drinking water consumption charges.

Leaders of the parties in the Corporation Council and heads of standing committees and zones called upon Mayor R. Venkatachalam and Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra to take up at a later date any discussion in raising the charges.

Deputy Mayor N. Karthik was present at the meeting.

The councillors said that this was not the right time to discuss an increase in the charges when the city was facing the threat of scarcity because of the delay in the monsoon setting in.

Leader of the Opposition and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member V.N. Udayakumar said the water charges should not be increased even if supply improved.

He said after the meeting that the Corporation should not view everything from the angle of revenue.

Social commitment demanded that the water charges should not be increased.

The State Government had sent to the Corporation revised water tariff, stating that the civic body could increase the rates in order to fund the Rs.113-crore Pilloor Phase II drinking water scheme.

A proposal moved for the increase at the Corporation Council meeting on June 22 said that the project estimate had increased to Rs.140 crore because of cost escalation.

This could be met through an increase in the charges.

The meeting was convened to also discuss connection and usage charges for underground sewers that the Corporation planned to provide under a Rs.377-crore scheme.

While the parties agreed that service charges had to be collected for the maintenance of the sewers, they wanted the Corporation to ensure that the public were not burdened by exorbitant rates.

Mr. Udayakumar said that the officials were requested to study the rates prevailing in all the local bodies that had implemented underground sewer schemes.

“We want the Coimbatore Corporation to fix rates that are lower than the lowest among the other local bodies.”

Another issue discussed at the meeting was about hoardings at bus shelters.

With rules on the size of hoardings having been violated earlier, the Corporation decided that it would provide the design and size specifications.

Officials said that the areas where such hoardings could be put up would also be identified by the civic body.