Team Herald
PANJIM: Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) has increased the sanitation tax for residential premises and handcarts for the year 2017-18.
CCP on Friday passed a deficit budget of Rs 48.04 crore against revenue receipts of Rs 42.37 crore. However, the Corporation is keeping its hopes on receiving Rs 9.11 crore from the government as grants.
In its budget for 2017-18, contrary to speculation, CCP refrained from increasing taxes for houses or the market.
However, the sanitation tax which is primarily charges paid by residents and handcart vendors, has been increased from Rs 365 per year to Rs 500 per year for residencies. Handcarts will have to pay Rs 500 per month in comparison to the Rs 300 per month paid earlier. However, the sanitation tax for small offices has been reduced from Rs 500 to Rs 300 per month.
The move has been taken in order to support CCP’s costs to maintain the city’s cleanliness and clean image.
Handcarts in the city have come under serious criticism in the recent past for several reasons including poor waste management. During the last two weeks, CCP has been evicting illegal handcarts occupying footpaths permanently and littering the space.
During the Friday’s meeting, some councillors raised objection to the CCP Commissioner evicting selected handcarts and demanded that action should be taken on all 72 handcarts registered with CCP or none.
Clarifying the issue, CCP Commissioner Dipak Desai said, “The court has sent a notice to the CCP to submit action taken report on complaints filed against handcarts for illegally occupying space. While there is no designated hawkers’ zone, the handcarts are supposed to be mobile and not stationed at a place permanently. Therefore, those handcarts which have made their handcarts into roadside restaurants have been acted upon.”
Further, the renewal fees for handcarts have been increased from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 per annum and the fees for renewal of mobile towers licences has been made uniform and increased to Rs 1 lakh per year with 10 percent increase annually.
The sopo fee from the market has been increased from Rs 10 per sq mtr to Rs 15 per sq mtr and fees for fair has been increased from Rs 20 per sq mtr to Rs 60 per sq mtr.
Speaking to media persons on the budget Panjim Mayor, Surendra Furtado said, “The deficit will be recovered the moment we get salary grants of Rs 10 crore from the state government.”
Requesting Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to forget the bitterness of the past, Furtado said that the Chief Minister should work along with CCP for the development of the city.
