The Times of India             10.09.2013

'Extend date to submit water tax till Sept 30'

VARANASI: The Mayor has asked Jal-Kal to extend the date for submission of the taxes on the drinking water supply till September 30 and also that the surcharge till the month of September to be exempted in the wake of flood that has caused severe damage to many people in low lying areas of the city. According to reports the local body had sought the permission from the Mayor to issue recovery challan (RC) to those who had failed to pay their dues with in the given time period, which was refused by the Mayor siting the flood and its aftermath in many areas of the city, adversely affecting a vast population.

Meanwhile amid the reports of growing irregularities in the work of silt removal that was being done by the contractors in the flood affected areas along with the poor quality of work, the Varanasi municipal Corporation (VMC) has decided to end the contractual work with immediate effect.

From now on the local body will be hiring the pump operators on ad-hoc basis and cleaning staff of the VMC willbe removing the silt mannually.