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PMC to review property tax in merged villages
The Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar has constituted a committee headed by additional municipal commissioner to review the property tax in the recently merged villages
The Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar has constituted a committee headed by additional municipal commissioner to review the property tax in the recently merged villages.
The Maharashtra government had merged 11 villages in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in 2018 while two years later, additional 23 villagers were merged into civic limits.
However, as the state government recently announced separate municipal councils for Phursungi and Uruli , the issue of additional taxes in the merged villages has come to the fore.
With citizens in these villages demanding to lower property taxes in absence of basic amenities, municipal commissioner has formed a committee which has been asked to submit the report.
“A committee led by additional municipal commissioner Kunal Khemnar will review the property taxes in these areas merged into PMC limits. It is expected that the committee will submit the details within 15 days and check whether taxes applied are more,” said Vikram Kumar.
Earlier on Wednesday, former minister and Balasaheb Thackeray Shiv Sena party leader Vijay Shivthare met municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar and raised the issue of additional taxes to these villages.
The property tax collected from residents of these areas is more than those living in central parts, when the latter are getting more amenities. Most of the merged villages are deprived of roads, garbage management, street lights and other amenities. Most of these merged villages have seen massive real estate development in view of relatively cheap land rates and its availability. Approximately five lakh people live in these areas which are now added into PMC.
Besides taxes, another major issue these areas are facing is about water supply. PMC has already appointed a consultant to study the water network in these areas and civic body trying to merge these villages in 24x7 water scheme.
Meanwhile, electrical department head Shrinivas Kandul said, “In last 16 months, PMC has paid ₹6 crore electricity bills for these areas after they got merged in PMC. The civic body is also installing more streetlights in the merged areas.”
