Madgavkars, beware. If you have a closed shop or a residential apartment anywhere in the commercial capital, be prepared to pay the sanitation fees even though the premises may not be occupied.
the goan I network
MARGAO
For, the Margao Municipal Council headed by Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai has given the green signal to bring all residential and commercial establishments under the sanitation fee net irrespective whether it is occupied or closed.
City tax payers, however, have vowed to knock the doors of the Judiciary by challenging the Council’s decision in the High Court.
At the meeting held on Wednesday, the Council gave its stamp of approval for the decision to levy garbage tax on all establishments, whether occupied or not. Arguing in favour of taxing closed apartments and shops, Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai pointed out that sanitation fees do not mean only garbage collection from the households or shops, but also providing a host of services including cleaning of drains, trimming of trees, sweeping of roads, etc. “I do not think that the Council will do any injustice on either the households or the shop owners if the premises, though closed, are charged the sanitation fees,” Babita later told the media.
Interestingly, Arthur D’Silva, Ketan Kurtarkar, Jaffar Budani were the only voices at the meeting which sought clarifications from the Chairperson on the proposal to tax closed households and commercial establishments. Arthur, in particular, sought to know from the Chairperson how the Municipality can charge premises which remains closed, but which have been bought by citizens as part of investment.
Councillor Ketan Kurtarkar, on the other hand, drew attention of the Chairperson to the general impression in the city that while the civic body is moving with alacrity to tax the genuine tax payers, people in the slums and migrants do not pay anything, but enjoy all the amenities provided.
Replying to the queries, Babita said the civic body has no monitoring system to keep a tab whether any premise is occupied or not. “Since the Municipality has no mechanism to check whether any premise is closed or not, we have decided to impose an annual flat sanitation fees of Rs 600 on the households and Rs 1,800 on the shops.
Convenor of Loyal Tax Payers, Savio Coutinho, later told the media that the citizens are disappointed with the decision of the civic body. “How can the civic body levy sanitation fees on households and shops when they are closed. We are disappointed with the Council decision,” Coutinho said, while disclosing plans to file a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court on the issue.
MARGAO: After drawing flak from many quarters over the absence of any data on the number of licensed shops and establishments in the commercial capital, the Margao Municipal Council has finally decided to conduct a Geo-Informatics Survey (GIS) to ascertain the number of shops and houses in the city.
Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai informed the Council on Wednesday that the Council has received quotations from 2-3 parties, which has the expertise to carry out the GIS. “We have obtained the tender documents from the Mapusa Municipal Council and the same will be vetted by the Municipal retainer before floating a tender,” she told the Council.
Babita said that since the GIS will cost the Council a huge amount of money, the Council will conduct the survey only in the heart of the town, the major commercial hub as a pilot project, before extending the survey to other wards. “The GIS will ascertain whether the shops and establishments are operating with trade licence; whether the households are paying the house tax, whether the shops have been amalgamated; whether there’s a mezzanine floor, etc,” she added.
Replying to a question, the Chairperson pointed out that the survey should hopefully start within a month’s time after completion of laid down formalities.
