The Hindu              11.12.2013 

‘Namma Toilet’ at Peerkankaranai provides relief for commuters

In an attempt to provide access to hygienic sanitation facilities to thousands of commuters boarding long-distance buses, a ‘Namma Toilet’ has been launched at Peerkankaranai.

A result of an approach to eradicate open defecation in urban Tamil Nadu, the universal design of Namma Toilet, launched in Tambaram and a few other urban pockets in the State has, according to government officials, changed the way people viewed and approached public toilets.

The Namma Toilet has been built at a cost of Rs. 6.8 lakh from the funds of Peerkankaranai Town Panchayat, its Chairman A.V. Sampath Kumar said. The free facility has been built at the northern end of the bus terminus at Peerkankaranai.

However, problems in Peerkankaranai are far from over as there are no public conveniences on the other side of Grand Southern Trunk Road, towards Chennai.

It causes immense problems for commuters arriving at Peerkankaranai, who have to either switch over to suburban trains or city buses.

Commuters who are aware of the location of a free toilet have to cross the arterial road — a risky affair in the morning and evening rush hours. The existing toilet at Perungalathur railway station has slipped into disuse and, hence, there is no relief for commuters who reach here after travelling long distance journeys overnight, pointed out R.A. Mukunthan of Perungalathur – Paranur Rail Commuters Association.

Mr. Sampath Kumar conceded that they were flooded with requests from activists as well as commuters about the need for a similar facility on the direction towards Chennai. “The gap between the railway lines and GST Road is the narrowest at Peerkankaranai. As of now, it is not possible to construct even a mobile toilet, owing to technical problems, but we are still exploring options,” he added.

A staffer at the Commissioner of Town Panchayats said the facility at Peerkankaranai was the first in Kancheepuram District and plans were on to launch a similar one in Mamallapuram. The Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply has plans to extend Namma Toilet to more than 130 spots in municipalities and corporations across the State.

The Hindu              11.12.2013 

Corporation’s revenue goes up

Financial Year 2013-14 is proving to be good for the Coimbatore Corporation as the results of the measures it has initiated have begun to bear fruit. According to sources in the Coimbatore Corporation, since April 2013 there has been a steady increase in revenue collection except in June 2013, when there was a marginal decrease by 1.91 per cent.

The revenue collection includes money collected for property tax, water charges, dangerous and offensive trade license fee, professional tax, rent and money collected for assets leased.

In April this year the Corporation saw its overall revenue go up by 24.15 per cent and property tax collection by 8.55 per cent as against April last year. The highest increase in overall collection was in August — 59.43 per cent. The property tax collection for the period went up by 11.17 per cent. (For month-wise comparative statement for the first half-year see table)

Corporation sources said the increase in overall collection was due to increase in various tax components.

As for property tax collection the increase in collection was not only because of increase in assessments but also the drive carried out by bill collectors.

The civic body asked its field staff to go on a ward-wise drive to ensure that there were no properties outside the tax net and that properties were under the right assessment category — residences as residences and not as commercial establishments and vice versa.

The exercise had resulted in the number of assessments going up by 23,510 by the end of the 2012-13 financial year and 18,391 in the past few months, said Mayor S.M. Velusamy.

The increase in assessments also saw an increase in revenue collection. At the end of the first half-year on September 30, 2013 the increase in property tax collection was Rs. 11.77 crore.

The sources said that Corporation had also carried out a similar drive for collecting vacant land tax. Plus, at the time of approving building plans the Town Planning wing coordinates with the revenue wing so as to ensure that it approves of the plan only after the vacant land tax dues are cleared.

The Mayor said that in the past seven months the Corporation had increased the vacant land tax assessments by 4,994.

For improving the professional tax collection, the Corporation conducted camps asking eligible persons to volunteer to become assessees, spoke to traders’ and industries’ associations and also collected data from other government departments like the Tangedco, Employees State Insurance Corporation, Commercial Tax to ensure that the tax net was cast wide.

The sources said that the increase in revenue would translate in to more development works for the Corporation as funding agencies look at repayment capacity before sanctioning or funding projects.