PUNE: The standing committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday appointed retired high court judge R N Bapat as special arbitrator to hear its pending property and water tax court cases and settle disputes.

"The civic administration proposed the name of retired high court judge R N Bapat as the special arbitrator," said standing committee chairman Arvind Shinde.

Shinde added that there are nearly 210 unsettled property tax cases which have caused revenue loss of Rs 51 crore. "There are also many pending water tax cases, with dues worth Rs 210 crore. Appointment of an arbitrator is aimed at saving time by settling matters outside the court. The arbitrator will mediate between the disputing parties," said Shinde.

According to the standing committee decision, Bapat will be given a contract of eleven months with a monthly payment of Rs 22,000 to hear prolonged court cases and to settle property tax disputes. He will also get an additional amount for hearing cases of water tax.

In 2006 Bapat was given the task of settling 65 property tax disputes resulting in a recovery of Rs 2 crore for the PMC.