The Hindu 08.09.2009
Hassan CMC wants increase in development charges withdrawn
Staff Correspondent
The charges have been increased from Rs. 75 to Rs. 300 per square metre
Councillors’ delegation submits memorandum to Deputy Commissioner
Opposition: The councillors of Hassan CMC at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Hassan on Monday.
HASSAN: All 35 councillors of the Hassan City Municipal Council, led by its president Nethravathi Girish and vice-president C.R. Shankar went in a delegation to the Deputy Commissioner Office urging him to withdraw the increase in development charges.
Addressing presspersons, Ms. Girish said that earlier development charges after conversion of land (from agriculture to non-agriculture) was fixed at Rs.70 per sq. metre. The CMC collected development charges of which Rs. 20 was kept with the CMC and remaining Rs. 50 was paid to the Hassan Urban Development Authority. A few months ago, the Deputy Commissioner increased the development charges to Rs. 300 per square metre. Ms. Girish said this hike was the highest in the State.
She said that following the increase, people who had converted their land and applied for grant of license for construction of houses would not pay the development charge and continue construction work. There are 3,000 such applications pending with CMC.
Ms. Girish said that at the monthly meeting of CMC held in August, he council passed a unanimous resolution urging the Deputy Commissioner to withdraw the hike.
Councilor H.T. Prakash of the BJP wondered what was the yardstick adopted by the Deputy Commissioner while increasing the development charges.
As the Deputy Commissioner was not in station, CMC president presented the memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner Subbaraya Kamat.
Commissioner of Hassan Urban Development Authority Paramesh said that before 2003, development charges of Rs. 70 were collected by the CMC within its municipal area. This was continued in the absence of Government order.
Now, the Government had passed orders and as per this order, the HUDA had to collect development charges of Rs. 300 per sq. metre. The authority will not get any share in the development charges collected by CMC and vice-versa.
