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HUDA disconnects water supply to erring builder

Tuesday, 01 October 2013 09:03 administrator
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The Times of India            01.10.2013 

HUDA disconnects water supply to erring builder

GURGAON: After repeated complaints about illegal use of potable water for construction of a school building by a private builder within the premises of Nirvana Country, HUDA has finally disconnected the supply and warned the builder of stern action in case the offence is repeated.

The residents of Nirvana Country, constructed by Unitech in Sector 50, have been protesting against the proposed plan of building 20 schools on the premises. While one of the schools has already come up despite protests by the residents, they had protested strongly against the second school construction, alleging use of groundwater for construction purposes in spite of orders issued by Punjab and Haryana high court.

Sandeep Mitra, an RWA member, said on Friday night residents spotted misuse of groundwater after which they clicked pictures and lodged a complaint with HUDA and Sadar police station. On Saturday, a team of HUDA officials reached the spot and disconnected the supply and warned the private builder, Drass Properties in this case, to not use groundwater for construction purposes.

"We had lodged a similar complaint with the deputy commissioner a few days ago to check misuse of water during construction but it was turned down by the authorities," said Mitra and added that finally authorities have taken some action by disconnecting the supply.

Jitendra Yadav of Drass Properties said, "I had bought the site from Unitech and started construction of a nursery school but the local residents opposed the building of schools owing to which work was stopped." On the issue of misusing groundwater, he confirmed that HUDA has disconnected supply and he was using water tankers for his requirement.

Abhishek Chatta, estate manager, Unitech, said he was not aware of the episode as he was not in office but he came to know about HUDA officials' visit to Nirvana Country in connection with the water issue.

Meanwhile, the residents have been demanding installation of an STP by Unitech to ensure groundwater is not used for construction. Rakesh Sachdeva, another resident, said despite request by residents, Unitech officials declined any possibility of STP plant for lack of land and money resources as well as completion of construction.

"The residents are concerned about the presence of so many schools within residential dwellings. There is no access planned to these schools from arterial roads and no traffic study has been done as how to handle increased traffic density" said Sachdeva.

 

Civic body cracks down on traders

Tuesday, 01 October 2013 08:59 administrator
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The Times of India            01.10.2013 

Civic body cracks down on traders

AURANGABAD: Acting tough on dealers who may been evading the local body tax (LBT), the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Monday seized three trucks to cross-check the tax amount disclosed by dealers on the goods these vehicles were carrying.

Civic body officials said that prima facie, it appears that the goods should bring in LBT in the range of Rs 30 lakh. The dealers had instead paid only Rs 7.5 lakh as LBT.

Deputy municipal commissioner Suresh Petgaonkar said that AMC officers were examining bills by calling all the concerned dealers. "The trucks were carrying goods of various dealers in the city. It has been found that most of the bills are duplicate. We have asked the officials to recalculate the tax amount and impose penalties on the dealers," Petgaonkar told TOI on Monday. As per guidelines, the civic body can impose a penalty up to five times the actual LBT amount.

Petgaonkar said he had noticed that some Aurangabad dealers were offering false information while importing goods through transport companies. "It seems that the practice has been going on for quite some time now. Many dealers who were caught in today's action were paying a lesser tax amount than what they should be paying. We will check their previous bills and take action against them if they are found to be guilty," he said.

"We have also noticed that many dealers had not registered their firms with the LBT department. We have now planned an aggressive drive against all the transport companies engaged in such activities," he said.

Petgaonkar said LBT officers will continue to check and seize trucks for a month. "We have decided to cross-check one or two trucks every day to curb this illegal practice," he said.

Petgaonkar said that some dealers were duping the civic body with duplicate bills for goods. "In many cases, dealers disclosed photocopies of the bills with 'adjustments' made in the bill amount. Some have paid an LBT amount over a declared gross bill amount of Rs 5,000, while the goods actually cost over Rs 50,000. We have repeatedly asked all dealers to furnish original bills while paying LBT," he said.

AMC standing committee chairman Narayan Kuche has been raising the LBT issue over the past few months. He had said that the civic body could consolidate its LBT collection by strengthening its system. Under the LBT format, dealers have to disclose their monthly turnover and pay the tax in the following month. In the current financial year, the municipal body is eyeing Rs 200 crore as tax amount from the 20,700 registered dealers operating in the AMC limits. 

 

North Delhi Municipal Corporation hurries to clear layouts of illegal colonies

Tuesday, 01 October 2013 08:54 administrator
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The Times of India            01.10.2013 

North Delhi Municipal Corporation hurries to clear layouts of illegal colonies

NEW DELHI: With days left for the model code of conduct to come into effect, the North corporation has expedited the process of sanctioning layouts of unauthorized colonies approved by the Delhi government for regularization. On Monday, the North corporation approved the layout of Parvatiya Anchal C-block in Burari's Sant Nagar area.

The proposal was approved by the standing committee of North corporation on Monday. With this, eight layouts have been approved by the three BJP-led municipal corporations. But, all the layouts are subject to change depending on the changes in the Master Plan of Delhi-2021, which is under review. "There are some discrepancies but we have cleared it depending on directions from the Delhi government," said an official.

Sources say BJP is in a hurry to clear layouts of unauthorized colonies approved for regularization as it fears the Congress will use this against the party in the upcoming assembly elections. The corporations are likely to clear layouts of more colonies in the next few weeks.

 
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