Village representatives in Kalyan set ablaze tax bills, complain of lack of development

The all-party union representing the 27 villages staged a protest against the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) on Tuesday against the increased tax bills charged by the civic body, officials said

The all-party union representing the 27 villages staged a protest against the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) on Tuesday against the increased tax bills charged by the civic body, officials said.

Image for representation. (File photo)

The protestors carried tax bills and set them ablaze in front of the KDMC headquarters.

The representative also placed a demand to remove these villages from the civic body, due to lack of development. The 27 villages which were under the grampanchayat rule earlier, were added to the civic body in June 2015.

The union has sent several letters to the civic body asking to revise the tax amount.

“Since after the villages were added into the civic body there is no development in these villages by the civic body, however, the tax charged is 10 times more than what we paid to the grampanchayat. We want the civic body to revise it and reduce the tax amount,” said Gulab Vaze, representative of the all-party union.

Vinay Kulkarni, in-charge of the tax department of KDMC said, “Excluding these villages from the civic body is a matter pertaining to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the tax imposed on these villages is as similar to other parts of KDMC as these villages are now a part of the civic body. I have explained this to the representatives followed by which the protest was called off.”