COIMBATORE: CPI on Sunday charged the civic body for its decision to hike the fee for underground drainage (UGD) connections.
The civic body has decided to collect service charge and a deposit amount from house owners for providing UGD connections to residences. The resolution is likely to be passed at Corporation’s ordinary council meeting scheduled to be held on Monday morning.
Residents paying over rS 50,000 as property tax will have to pay Rs 50,000 as service charge for a year and Rs 1 lakh as deposit amount. Owners of non-residential buildings have to pay Rs 25,000 higher than the residential houses as deposit amount.
According to sources, during a meeting convened in the presence of Mayor P Rajkumar, it was decided to raise the service charge and deposit amount equally for 100 wards on April 27.
“The government provides sambar and curd-rice for an affordable price at amma canteens. It is quite a contrast that the civic body has decided to charge an excessive amount for collecting human waste through UGD,” said K M Selvaraj, district secretary, CPI, in a press release issued here on Sunday.
The party also condemned the Civic body’s decision to collect service charge and deposit amount from those living in the 28 wards in the added areas where the UGD system has not even been implemented. “The project cost for UGD within the old corporation limits is Rs 390 crore. The civic body has decided to collect Rs 149 crore from residential, non-residential houses and commercial establishments as service charge and Rs 405 crore will be collected from the deposit amount,” said Selvaraj. “The civic body should withdraw its decision. Otherwise, our party members will stage a protest in front of the corporation office,” he warned.
When contacted, Corporation Commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan said, “We are following government orders and are not implementing a separate plan for Coimbatore Corporation. The corporation council of Tirupur and the neighbouring corporation have already approved the plan.”