“Self-assessed” property tax in Kolkata from next year

“Self-assessed” property tax in Kolkata from next year

Posted on September 17, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

A property owner in the city will get the option of adopting the Unit Area Assessment (UAA) method of valuation from next April along with the existing method of determining property tax.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials believe the UAA system will make tax collection transparent, tax-paying easier and generate more revenue.

After the new method is introduced, corporation inspectors will not visit the taxpayers’ properties as they do now. Instead, taxpayers will make a self-assessment of their properties and fill in a self-declaration form sent by KMC.

The corporation will only charge 10% of the annual valuation of the property , which will be revised every six years, as property tax. This is applicable only if there are no additions or alterations of the property between two assessment years.

If owners make alterations to the property, they have to mention it in the form. If someone tries to hide it, there will be a high penalty, sources said. KMC will also send an objection form where a tax payer can argue against the existing tax rate.

Those who accept a flat 10% hike on annual valuation will be sent a re vised tax bill. Assessees who have made changes to their premises will be sent a fresh tax bill based on their declarations.

And those who disagree will have to submit the objection form that will then go to KMC assessment department for special hearing.

First published in The Times of India, 17.09.2015

KMC takes a step towards cleaner city

Posted on September 3, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

In a bid to make Kolkata cleaner, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to dispose of garbage from the entire city through the modern compactor method.

The State has now sanctioned a special fund for the modernization of the solid waste management scheme. In fact, buoyed by the success of the first phase of the project, even Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee has herself taken keen interest in funding the plan as Kolkata is now being perceived as a cleaner city . With assurance from the State, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation now plans to set up 19 more compactor stations and buy movable compactor machines for areas where the civic body has failed to get land for the stations.

The places where the compactor stations will be set up include Park Circus, NRS Medical College, Esplanade bus terminus, Kalighat temple, Bowbazar, Surjya Sen Street and Naktala. Stations at New Alipore, Golf Club Road and Bondel Road are already built but awaiting inauguration.

Debabrata Majumdar, member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC solid waste management department, said the compactor stations and movable compactors reduced the dependence on trucks carrying waste to the Dhapa dumping ground. “Once the project is fully implemented, we hope to get rid of all big vats, which dirty the roads with garbage spilling out, and the rickety trucks that carry waste to Dhapa,” the MMiC said.

In the first phase, the KMC solid waste management department built 43 compactor stations, the first one being set up near the Kalighat tram depot, followed by another one on Southern Avenue.

Inspired by the success of the two stations, the KMC built 42 more such stations. But the civic body had to put on hold the garbage disposal modernization programme for want of funds. The KMC was apparently shocked to find there was no provision for modernization of garbage disposal as the Centre refused to finance it under JNNURM. Before the civic polls last year, the KMC had approached the state to set up compactor stations and the money has finally been sanctioned.

Kolkata parks to have India’s first carbon-neutral lighting

Posted on September 2, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The City of Joy is poised to become the first city in the country to have its public parks illuminated by an automated carbon-neutral solar lighting system, reducing the carbon footprint and electricity bills.

The new automated solar lighting system, first installed at Deshapriya Park on a trial basis, would now be extended to 28 other parks by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the custodian of the parks.

The unique part in this solar lighting system is that it is battery-less and connected with the power grid. An automatic control system has been put in place and the lights will be switched on automatically after evening and switched off in the morning.

The pilot project began earlier this year with Deshapriya Park where they have installed 50 solar electric posts having 180 Watt solar panels with LED lights. Earlier the electricity bill used to be Rs 17,000, but now it has come down drastically to less than Rs 2,000. That is 90 per cent savings. With this technology parks can be made 95 per cent carbon-neutral.

Parks under consideration for the project include prominent ones like Md Ali Park, College Square, Maddox Square and Subhas Sarobar Park.

When implemented, the project would result in monthly savings of lakhs of rupees in electricity bills, KMC MMIC Debashis Kumar said.

The system would also be useful for deployment in street lighting system as well as those on highways.

UK and KMC jointly conduct workshop on environment sensitisation

Posted on August 26, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

A British minister met a few councillors of Kolkata Municipal Corporation in Kankurgachhi on Tuesday to sensitise them on environment-related issues.

Desmond Swayne, minister of state for international development, visited the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s community centre where councillors of Borough III were present.

The UK government and the KMC had signed a memorandum of understanding when Prime Minister David Cameron visited the city in 2013.

An important component of the effort to build a more environment-friendly city is to make the councillors, who are public representatives at the lowest level of governance, aware of the threats and challenges facing the city.

The councillors were told about the importance of separating biodegradable and non-degradable waste at source and the hazards of eating from thermocol plates. They were also told how plastic items clog drains and cause waterlogging during the monsoon.

Swayne said he was proud of the partnership between the UK government and the KMC.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, environment minister Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar and British deputy high commissioner Scott Furssedonn-Wood were present at the programme.

KMC launches e-sanction of building plans

Posted on August 21, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee on Wednesday launched the much awaited scheme for online sanction of building plans. The scheme effectively reduces the time taken to obtain an approval to 45 days from the existing time limit of three months. Three applicants received online sanctions for buildings in Swinhoe Lane and Canal Road (south) on Wednesday .

The facility will initially be restricted to Park Street, Camac Street, Loudon Street, Theatre Road, Ballygunge and others which fall under Kolkata Municipal Corporation borough VII. It will be extended to other areas in phases.

All a property owner needs to do to avail of the online facility is get hold of a Licenced Building Surveyor (LBS) who is empanelled in the KMC buildings department.The application for sanction of construction or additional construction on a particular building or on a vacant plot will be made by LBS on behalf of the applicant.

The LBS appointed for a particular project will need to mention every detail of the project, from the size of the plot floor area ratio to the width of the road in front of the proposed building, apart from details about the owner and the title of the land to ascertain whether it is a litigated property .

KMC to conserve water bodies in Kolkata

Posted on August 17, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) authorities are conducting a massive drive to conserve water bodies in the city. Project management unit and slum development department of the civic body have undertaken 18 projects to revamp the water bodies and undertake their annual maintenance.

“We are conducting a massive drive to save water bodies in the city. This is needed for maintenance of the ecological balance and saving the environment,” Swapan Samaddar, member, mayor-in-council (slum development & environment), said.

A water body at Bhukailash is being renovated at an estimated cost of Rs 99 lakh. Again Rs10 lakh would be spent for the conservation of Gopal Ghat in ward 73 and undertake restoration of a water body at Beliaghata Main Road.

Another water body on Tollygunge Road, too, is set to be restored at an estimated cost of Rs 25 lakh by KMC. Many other water bodies in Bansdroni and Fatehpur first lane in Metiabruz will be given attention.

KMC had already beautified Laldighi under JNNURM scheme at a cost of Rs 3.65 crore.

28 parks in Kolkata to be illuminated with solar lights

Posted on August 17, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is taking a giant step to turn green compliant by installing panels to tap solar energy and illuminate 28 major parks and gardens.

With electricity bills shooting through the roof, KMC has asked the one of the leading institutions working on Renewable Energy, to design the project. Already, 50 solar poles have been installed at Deshapriya Park, which entailed a cost of Rs 40 lakh. The project will get Department of International development funding.

All solar street lighting systems that had come up earlier were battery-operated. But, it was for the first time in the country that a street lighting system is being generating power through solar panels having not battery. There is a micro-inverter that is being fixed with the panel that converts solar energy.

After monitoring the system since February this year, KMC authorities noticed a drastic 80% fall in electricity bill at Deshapriya Park. Around Rs 36,000 per month is being saved now at Deshapriya Park. Encouraged by the result, the KMC has taken the decision to light up 28 other parks, including Md Ali Park, College Square, Maddox square, Subhas Sarobar Park and others.

About Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000 for big parks and Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for medium-sized parks will be saved per month once solar lights are installed. Around Rs 8 crore roughly will be saved every year. But funding is an issue for which the KMC authorities have taken up the issue with state power minister Manish Gupta and a committee has been formed for the task.

The KMC electricity department has been entrusted with surveying the selected 28 parks to submit a report within a month and the authorities plan to start implementing the project from this year end.

Over 600 KMC parking lots being prepared to accommodate Taxis

Posted on August 13, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Starting September 1, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is transforming its designated parking lots into taxi stands. These free of-cost facilities are expected to bring down the refusal rate significantly as parking facilities would ensure minimum idle runs for cabbies and even make shorter runs profitable.

To hold taxi operators accountable, the civic body is planning to bring every parking lot under CCTV surveillance. The camera feed will be shared with local traffic police guard to rein in errant cabbies. This apart, introduction of hand-held parking meters will also keep private vehicles and parking lot operators on their toes.

Announcing the plan to introduce these meters by September, Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said the device will bring transparency and make sure that there is no or little pilferage in the collection of parking fees by agencies.

“Each parking facility would accommodate at least two taxis and at best six taxis, depending on the size of the lot.But more taxis will be accommodated if they are closer to market or hospital so that people get taxis without hassle,“ said the Kolkata Mayor after a meeting with principal secretary (transport), the KMC Commissioner, the PVD director and other officials.

“Since a majority of parking lots are at prime locations, passengers can avail taxis easily. Idle run of taxis leave cabbies bleeding and force them to look for long-distance passengers so that their idle runs get compensated. But this prac tice is expected to stop now.

Also, there will be better signage and clear marking of each slot so that more cars are not packed into parking lots. A recent survey by KMC revealed that vehicles nearly three to four times of the designated figure get parked. Parking meters can be used to integrate on-street parking policy.

KMC will also go for construction of vertical automated parking lots in PPP model. The government has agreed for viability gap funding. Besides, the civic body will relay the road leading to Behala Flying Club as the motor-training hub of the public vehicle department, which will have test tracks of international standard, is coming up there.

KMC campaigns door to door, opens health camps to combat enteric outbreak

Posted on August 13, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) have decided to intensify surveillance at each household in low-lying pocket areas.

The spread of enteric diseases like diarrhoea and dermatitis in Kolkata as an aftermath of the flood-like situation in many parts of the city, civic authorities are going all out in their efforts to check their rise.

Beliaghata ID hospital reported around 100 patients on an average on daily basis since August 3 after the very heavy rainfall was recorded and subsided. 80% patients are Kolkata residents and only 20% are getting admitted from neighbouring districts.

The numbers getting admitted are causing concern for KMC’s health department officials monitoring the outbreak in the city. According to senior KMC doctors, in the wake of water-logging, there is always the possibility of stored water being contaminated coupled with personal hygiene resulting in episodes of acute diarrhoeal diseases.

“It is true Beliaghata ID hospital is getting a steady flow of patients with complaints of diarrhoea but the figure is not yet alarming to officially declare an outbreak. Only 41 patients are admitted as on date and a total of 1,100 patients have been treated in the last 10 days,” Atin Ghosh, member, mayor-in-council (health), said. KMC collected over 250 samples from different points in the city and in few places the reports were not satisfactory, denoting contamination in water.

Field workers are visiting door to door in affected wards and distributing anti-diarrhoeal drugs and ORS, and halogen tablets to disinfect drinking water. There is no shortage of anti-diarrhoeal drugs or ORS or halogen tablets. There is also no dearth of logistics support, sources said.

“We have visited 51,936 houses in 144 wards in Kolkata and have opened several health camps and our field workers have identified 1,100 patients suffering from diarrhoea and few patients suffering from dermatitis,” the MMiC (health) said.

KMC has cancelled holidays of health staffs of wards 1, 108, 109, 111 to 114, which are vulnerable areas.

Special teams have been formed to make visits at every doorstep in Tangra, Tiljala and Topsia that reports most diarrhoea cases round the year.

“In these wards, we would keep our ward health units open all the seven days for extra hours to distribute ORS, halogen tablets and derma ointments. We are also treating common cough and cold and viral fevers,” Ghosh said.

KMC is asking all Kolkatans to drink water only after boiling it.

75,000 bicycles to be distributed to Kolkata students

Posted on August 7, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government has decided to introduce the rural trend of distributing bicycles in urban areas. The backward welfare department would distribute 75,000 bicycles amongst Class 10 and Class 12 students of government and government-aided schools in Kolkata. The cycles may be distributed with the help of KMC.

The Kolkata Mayor also announced that the Rakhi Utsav will be celebrated in every ward of the KMC and it will soon specify the size of the stage to be erected and pictures of Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul Islam and Swami Vivekananda to be garland and sweets distributed.

Workshops were also held for councillors on how to speed up schemes launched by the state government.