Dadri nagar palika starts levying fee on civic amenities
The Dadri municipal council hired a private agency for the job and started imposing user charges on consumers from October 2
A group of councillors of Dadri nagar palika on Thursday wrote to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, requesting a rollback of user charges levied on civic services such as collection of garbage, its disposal and cleaning of roads.
The Dadri municipal council hired a private agency for the job and started imposing user charges on consumers from October 2. While a majority of residents have supported the move, a section of residents and some councillors have opposed the levy of user charges.
Ward 15 councillor Sumit Baisoya said,“ User charges are being levied without the nagar pallika board’s approval. If all decisions are to be taken by the state government, then what are councillors there for?.”
Dadri nagar pallika chairman is of the BJP but a majority of members are from other parties.
Vandana Sharma, executive officer, Dadri nagar palika, said that as per the state government directions, the job of road cleaning and garbage disposal has been handed over to a private party since October 2. “A private company is sweeping the roads and streets, cleaning drains and collecting garbage from houses and disposing of it at the dumping site. We have started collecting users charges from residents as per the government directions. So far, nearly Rs 2 lakh has been collected as user charges from a few properties,” she said.
Sharma said there are around 13,000 household properties and 3,500 commercial properties in Dadri under the nagar palika.
The EO said,“The user charge depends on the property. For residential property, charges range between Rs 50 per month and Rs 100 per month, depending on the size of the house.”
“For shops, charges are between Rs 100 and Rs 150 per month. For nursing homes, banquet halls and other commercial establishments, charges range between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 per month. We do not collect biomedical waste. Hospitals have to dispose of biomedical waste on their own,” Sharma said.
Silesh Yadav, of Aggarwal Sweets shop in Dadri, said,“Since the private company has started sweeping the roads, the market are cleaner. We do not mind paying user charges of Rs 150 a month, if the roads are properly cleaned roads and the garbage is removed daily.”
Krishan Kumar, who runs a mobile phone shop on GT Road, said,“For Swachh Bharat campaign, we can pay user charges. This should ensure hygienic conditions for shoppers.”
Several other shopkeepers echoed similar views. Even street vendors at the vegetable market were ready to pay Rs 10 a day.
Kamla Devi, a resident, said, “We were paying Rs 20 to Rs 50 a month to a sweeper to take out household garbage. Now, the nagar palika is collecting waste properly through the staff of a private company, which is better,” she said.
Some residents and councillors, however, opposed the users charge. “When residents are paying a house tax, levying users charges is illegal,” Baisoya said.