BANGALORE: To augment revenue and check property tax evasion, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Commissioner, K. Jothiramalingam, has ordered a third-party evaluation of properties assessed by the assistant revenue officers in their jurisdiction. However, properties that are assessed under the self-assessment scheme and those in slums will not be verified again.

At the BMP Council meeting here, Mr. Jothiramalingam said the revenue officials have been asked to submit reports by July 15 certifying that in the properties assessed by them there is no violation of building bylaws, that the properties are classified properly in the respective zone and that the assessment is made for the total built-up area of the building.

"After the report is submitted, third-party inspection of properties will be carried out to find out if the officials have made correct assessments. If the third-party assessment varies from the officials' report, disciplinary action will be initiated against them," he said.

Mr. Jothiramalingam said the BMP will also take action against owners of building in which the deviation from the sanctioned plan is more than five per cent.

Governor's letter

When the Opposition leader, B.R. Nanjundappa, pointed out that the Governor, T. N. Chaturvedi, had written to the BMP about a building coming up on Cunningham Road in violation of laws, the Commissioner said the occupancy certificate (OC) of the building has been withdrawn. "The building owner has sought a month's time to rectify the violations. After that if we will find out whether the violations are above five per cent, and if they are, we will cancel the OC. If you all cooperate, we will crack down on all building violations," he said.

Mr. Jothiramalingam explained that the ward grants have not been reduced by Rs. 39 lakhs. "We have split the grants into three heads. While Rs. 61 lakhs has been allocated for programme of works, Rs. 30 lakhs has been set aside for asphalting of roads. The remaining Rs. 9 lakhs will be used for works to be taken up under the 18 per cent grants for the weaker section. Altogether, we have allotted Rs. 1 crore for each ward," he said.

The Commissioner said it is essential to make "need-based allocations" for the wards.

"We have small wards that are developed and need smaller amounts for works. But we also have big wards that are underdeveloped and need higher allocations. Though we had thought about making need-based allocations in the budget, we could not do so. I hope we will do it next year," he said.

Markets

To streamline revenue collection in market complexes owned by the BMP, the civic body is planning to chalk out a proposal to sell the markets that do not yield revenue, or stipulate a 10 to 15 per cent hike in rents for shops in the markets once every three years, Mr. Jothiramalingam said.

On complaints about irregularities in the collection of revenue in Sri Krishna Rajendra (SKR) market, the Mayor, R. Narayanaswamy, said the officials in charge of the market will be replaced.

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