The Hindu 08.11.2013
Akrama-Sakrama scheme needs amendments: Mayor
Akrama-Sakrama scheme that was recently passed by the
government to regularise building bylaw violations may not help citizens
here, said Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana.
At an
interaction at the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and
Industry here on Thursday, the Mayor said the scheme needs some
amendments. “We have already discussed this with city in-charge Minister
Ramalinga Reddy and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. We hope that the
amendments are discussed in the legislature session in Belgaum shortly,”
he said.
According to him, the scheme in the current
form will not help the BBMP, as properties with more than 100 per cent
deviations will not be covered. “The scheme will help property owners
regularise deviations to around 50 per cent. The ones with more
deviations seem to be out of the scheme’s ambit.”
Improvement charge
Mr.
Sathyanarayana said the civic body was keen on levying improvement
charges, which will benefit property owners who have built houses in the
revenue pockets. The BBMP had earlier fixed the charges, but could not
levy it as citizens challenged it before the High Court.
“On
directions of the court, we fixed a uniform rate for sites of different
dimensions,” he said and added that the BBMP would place the new rates
before the council for approval. By levying the improvement charges, the
BBMP hopes to garner Rs. 800 crore.
Regarding the
BBMP’s poor financial health, he said BBMP’s loans and pending bills
amount to Rs. 4,000 crore and thus it is imperative that tax collections
are strengthened.
He lamented that the BBMP
officials are not committed in this regard, as many properties are not
in the tax net. With sustained efforts, at least Rs. 1,000 crore can be
collected from Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura and Rajarajeshwarinagar zones,
he said. “Many property owners have under-declared and paid less tax to
the BBMP under the self-assessment scheme,” he said and invited FKCCI
members to suggest ways to overcome this problem.
