MARGAO
The Shadow Council for Margao (SCM) on Monday demanded the recovery of taxes/fees with penalties from individual/public representatives, for the display of banners/hoardings without permission, during the Diwali festival.Against the backdrop of the call given by Margao MLA Digamber Kamat to citizens and businessmen to voluntarily pay their dues to the MMC, Shadow Council for Margao in a representation to the Chief Officer stated that an RTI information was filed vide application with inward no 700076321 dated October 25 seeking information with regard to the Diwali greeting banners/hoardings displayed by various individuals including present and former public representatives, which information was not provided as the 30-day limit is yet to expire.
However, upon understanding that the concerned field officials of the MMC neither cared, nor were directed to inspect and list out such displays, the Shadow Council said it found it appropriate to assist the council in tapping its resources, by conducting a survey and collecting details of the various banners/hoardings erected around Margao.
Attaching photographs of most of the displayed Diwali greeting banners/hoardings erected during the Diwali festival, SCM has requested the Chief Officer to verify with the concerned section, identify the banners that did not possess valid permissions and demanded the recovery of the applicable charges with penalties.
He said the SCM could compile details of 60 banners/hoardings displayed within the jurisdiction of Margao Municipal Council, while the actual number permitted was only 30. So also it is observed that huge hoardings are erected by many, while the permissions are issued for small cloth banners, SCM's Savio Coutinho stated.
The list of banners/hoardings identified and documented by SCM pertains to the politicians and elected representatives who had all displayed the banners extending a greeting to the citizens on the occasion of Diwali.
Clarifying that their initiative was with no intention to target any public representative or politician, but was a genuine attempt to make them realise their responsibility towards public revenue, Coutinho said the exercise had a two-point programme to prove there’s a huge scope for revenue collection from temporary advertisements in the form of banners/hoardings. “Unless our representatives set the example by paying applicable taxes, the general public will also stay away from doing so. And, these banners are made of non-biodegradable material, while permissions are issued for cloth banners. Further, these flex banners eventually land into the municipal bins, adding to the already existing problems of waste disposal,” Coutinho rued.
