For long, residents of the neighbourhood have been battling about the uneven property tax hike. For bringing a solution to the problem, United Forum of Nanganallur Welfare Association has decided to meet the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) Commissioner in the coming days.
The Government Order and the court ruling states that the revised order shall not be more than 50 per cent. However, residents in the locality feel that they have been taxed more than other areas in the core city.
Speaking about it, forum’s vice-president, Sridhar said, “For other neighbourhoods in the city, the tax amount was increased way back in 1998, but for Nanganallur and other surrounding areas, it was revised by 10 per cent in 2008 when it was under Alandur Municipality. The locality was later merged with GCC in 2011. But from then to now, only a negligible amount of people would have built new houses.”
“The newly-merged localities were charged Rs 2.24 per foot as the Basic Street Rate (BSR) in 2011 whereas for other areas in the city it is extremely low. We were informed that they have surged only by 10 per cent. Previously, I used to pay Rs 330 and now after adding the new charges, it comes up to Rs 3,300. I wonder if it is fair,” he rues and wants to be charged on par with other areas without being partial.
He further gives a comparison, “Veeramamunivar Street in Nanganallur, which is just four feet wide, lacks facilities and a resident will have to pay more than the ones in the elite Kamarajar Salai. The officials are not levying taxes based on the 2011 guide line values.”
Despite the disparity, the association has requested the residents to pay up the property tax as per the old charges for which they have been given permission from the corporation. When the forum members approached the local zonal officer, he was redirected to the GCC.
The core members have decided to fight until the end until they are given a concrete response and wants to be assessed based on the guideline values issued in 1998 for calculating BSR, instead of 2011. Meanwhile, the petition filed by Member of Parliament, R S Bharathi is waiting to be heard at the Madras High Court.