The Hindu              31.12.2013

Anna Arivalayam property tax to be reassessed

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

Chennai Corporation has reportedly identified underassessment of property tax for the premises of Anna Arivalayam, the headquarters of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

As part of an initiative to reassess property tax for the buildings on the premises, revenue department officials carried out a field verification of the area of the main building, dispensary, studio and Kalaignar Arangam.

According to a report submitted by the revenue department, the property tax collected for the Anna Arivalayam main building, with an area of 40,400 sq. ft., is Rs. 82,192 for every half-year. “On verification, the actual area of the main building was found to be 93,627 sq. ft. The reassessed property tax will be Rs. 10.33 lakh for the building,” the report said.

The free dispensary and studio on the same premises had been assessed earlier by officials as having an area of 14,584 sq. ft. The property tax payable for every six months is Rs. 1.62 lakh. “However, the area of the building is 23,959 sq. ft. as against the earlier assessment order issued in 2002. The reassessment will require an increase in property tax to Rs. 2.82 lakh.”

Another building on the premises, Kalaignar Arangam, has been classified as commercial property because of permissions granted for at least 50 functions per year.

“The reassessment of the building will increase the tax to Rs. 3.40 lakh. The existing property tax collected for the building is Rs. 91,346. The calculation is based on the rental value of Rs. 1 lakh per function for Kalaignar Arangam.”

The Corporation has also asked zonal assistant revenue officers to reassess property tax for similar buildings that measure more than 10,000 sq. ft.

“At least 400 buildings in every zone are more than 10,000 sq. ft. Such buildings will be screened for reassessment,” said an official of the Corporation.

The Hindu              30.12.2013

Revenue officials reclaim encroached pond off OMR

Officials of the revenue department under the Kancheepuram district administration on Sunday morning demolished shops and houses that had encroached on Chathira Kulam in Mettukuppam, Okkiyam Thuraipakkam, on Rajiv Gandhi Salai. Following the drive, sixteen families were left without a shelter.

Two-storeyed buildings as well as huts and semi-permanent houses built near the pond were pulled down.

According to the staff, nearly 1.1 acres of the water body, whose original expanse was 2.4 acres, was encroached and notices had been issued in 2012.

Adequate time was given to the families to retrieve their belongings before the demolition commenced on Saturday, a source said.

Expressing the anger and anguish of the evicted families, 52-year-old R. Ramachandran said, “I bought a plot here in 1980 for Rs. 5,000. We have been paying all our taxes to the Corporation. We were assured that no harm would come to our houses.”

“Knowing that we have been evicted, potential landlords have hiked the advance and monthly rent. We cannot even mobilise Rs. 20,000 to locate a suitable accommodation,” said S. Lokesh, another resident.

Revenue department officials in Sholinganallur said alternate housing sites would be provided to those evicted on Sunday.