BHUBANESWAR: With industrial units allegedly defaulting on payment of holding tax and user fees to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), drainage and desiltation and other sanitation services in Mancheswar Industrial Estate of the city have taken a hit.
Even as BMC provides sweeping and garbage lifting services in the area, various services including street light management have been severely affected as industries are unwilling to pay any fee other than the annual maintenance charges they pay to the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).
“Around Rs 60 crore holding tax is due on different industries in Mancheswar area. The industries are seeking total exemption because of the maintenance fee they are paying to Idco. Besides, we are also not being paid any user fee by the industries or Idco to carry out drainage desiltation and sanitation services,” said a senior official from the BMC sanitation wing.
The ongoing confusion pertaining to payment of holding tax and user fee, on other other hand has also taken a toll on civic services in the area. With less than a month and a half month left for monsoon, internal drains in most parts of the industrial area remain clogged in waste. Random dumping of construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) is another area of concern. An official said a joint meeting between BMC and Idco was held last month to address the issues.
“As the dispute pertaining to holding tax remained unresolved in the meeting it was decided a high-level meeting at department level will be conducted to resolve the matter,” he said. It was decided the street lights will be managed by BMC, while the drainage desiltation work will be taken up by Idco for the time-being.
“Drainage desiltation work and other civic services will be provided by the BMC only after the matter relating to holding tax is resolved,” he said. A joint inspection will be carried out by Idco and BMC officials on source segregation of waste as well as C&D waste. Idco MD Bhupendra Singh Poonia said the government will decide on the holding tax issue.