The Hindu 13.02.2013
Municipality threatens to snap water connections of defaulters
Rs.15 crore due from residents and institutions under various heads in Karur.
Worried over mounting dues, the Karur Municipality has
decided to get tough with tax defaulters in the civic body limits,
holding out a threat to disconnect drinking water supply connections.
A
recent meeting of chairman M.Selvaraj, commissioner (in charge)
Gopalakrishnan, and other officials took stock of the tax dues in the
municipality and noted that an estimated Rs.15 crore was due from its
residents and institutions under various head such as profession tax,
drinking water supply tax, property tax besides the non taxable
outstanding that should be received by the civic body. During the recent
council meetings some members had taken objection to the perceived lax
attitude of the municipality in collecting revenue dues and had called
for expeditious efforts to recover the dues from the defaulters and the
special meeting followed those calls.
Pointing to the
lackadaisical attitude of the defaulters in paying the municipality its
dues, the meeting decided to toughen its stance.
Thereby,
the meeting resolved unanimously to take stringent measures to convey
the municipality’s strong disapproval by even resorting to disconnection
of drinking water supply connection to defaulters.
The
meeting also noted that with the expanded area covering 48 wards the
Karur Municipality was striving to serve its population by improving
drinking water supply and other basic amenities through implementing
various development schemes.
In particular the scheme
to provide drinking water supply to Thanthoni, Inam Karur and Karur
regions not served by the Cauvery water supply schemes required funding
to install and operate the schemes. If support through proper and timely
payment of dues was not resorted to by the residents the civic body
would be strained to extend the services.
Besides,
the municipality was also pressing into operation generators to keep the
motors in the pump rooms and lifting stations running to feed the water
supply scheme beneficiary hamlets and localities. For that substantial
amount was required as there were frequent power cuts. The civic body is
hard pressed for resource mobilization and it was the duty of all
residents to promptly pay the tax dues, the meeting observed.