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Palava City residents threaten to protest over property tax
The residents contend that 100% property tax has been levied on them despite there being a provision for 66% rebate on the tax for residents of integrated township projects such as Palava City. In a meeting with Raju Patil, MLA Kalyan Rural, the residents decided to take to the streets after two to three years of persistently following up with the civic body to resolve the issue of property tax.
DOMBIVLI: The residents of Palava City, a plush housing society located on Kalyan-Shil Road, have given a 15-day ultimatum to Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to resolve their issues concerning property tax, or they will protest on the streets.
The residents contend that 100% property tax has been levied on them despite there being a provision for 66% rebate on the tax for residents of integrated township projects such as Palava City.
In a meeting with Raju Patil, MLA Kalyan Rural, the residents decided to take to the streets after two to three years of persistently following up with the civic body to resolve the issue of property tax.
As per the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (Unified DCR) for Maharashtra, a developer is expected to complete the special township project within 10 years or such period as allowed by the government from the approval to the master plan.
A developer is also expected to maintain all the infrastructure (internal streetlights, roads etc) up to the completion of the integrated township project. The Unifed DCR norms say such integrated townships developed by the builder will get 66% concession on the property tax as prescribed under the gram panchayat or Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act.
Sameer Kondalkar, 45, a businessman who lives in phase 2 of Palava City, said, “Whatever we have paid all these years has exceeded the tax amount that we were supposed to pay. Here, we have not taken any facilities from the civic body as the entire township has been built by the developer and for all the amenities, we have paid the developer.
“The 100% tax that we have been asked to pay would approximately come to around ₹6,000- ₹8,000 annually, which is more than what we are supposed to pay.”
The phase two of Palava City, developed by the Lodha group, has approximately 18,000 flats.
“Most residents have stopped paying the tax for which the civic body has started serving notices claiming they would seal the properties. We have been following up the matter with KDMC for the last two years, but there has been no response. This time, however, we have unitedly decided to protest on the streets and fight for our rights,” said Kondalkar.
Meanwhile, Patil claimed that the Khoni village phase 1 of Palava project that falls under Thane Zilla Parishad received 66% rebate in property tax in March 2022 from Bhausaheb Dangde, the then chief executive officer of the parishad.
“The same officer is now the KDMC commissioner, and he is not willing to give the same rebate for phase two of the township project. This shows he is under some pressure and is doing it purposefully. This is why we have decided to protest and if any problem arises during the protest, the civic body will be responsible for it. We have given a 15-day ultimatum about the same,” said Patil.
Dangde did not respond to calls despite repeated attempts.
Panel to be formed
The residents of Palava City have decided to form a committee in the coming days to highlight lack of proper infrastructure at Palava junction leading to accidents, traffic jams at the entrances, poor waste management. They also want to highlight the issue of conservation of the Desai creek and other issues, which need attention from KDMC.
