Pune Municipal Corporation To Refrain.From Cutting Water Supply To Tax Defaulters
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In a surprising turn of events, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has refrained from cutting off the water supply to tax defaulters, despite warnings issued by Property Tax department head Madhav Jagtap. The civic body had threatened to disconnect individual water tap connections to recover pending property tax dues, but no action has been taken in the past 48 hours.
A civic officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the PMC issues such warnings every year but fails to take action, citing water as a necessity. “If PMC cuts the water supply, there would be an immediate reaction, and local leaders would apply pressure on the civic body,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, the PMC has announced plans to survey properties receiving a 5-10% tax rebate for installing solar power, rainwater harvesting, and vermiculture projects. The civic body believes many properties with such facilities are not functional but are still claiming tax rebates.
However, BJP leader Ujwal Keskar, Suhas Joshi, and Shiv Sena leader Prashant Badhe have criticized the PMC’s move, calling it “unjust.” They argue that instead of inspecting properties with tax rebates, the PMC should focus on recovering dues from defaulters, which would generate more revenue.
Keskar stated to the mediaperson that, “Our request to the Property Tax department is to deploy their workforce to recover dues from defaulters instead of reviewing properties with tax rebates.” The PMC’s decision to backtrack on cutting water supply to tax defaulters has raised questions about the civic body’s ability to recover pending dues and manage its finances effectively .
