HYDERABAD: Property tax in all municipalities and corporations in the State will be revised upwards with effect from April 1, 2007. Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has cleared a proposal for the revision while reviewing the activities of the Municipal Administration Department here on Friday.

Most of the civic bodies have long been seeking an increase in the property tax, citing their inability to undertake civic amenities due to financial crunch.

While the property tax is revised once in five years, the last revision was done in 2002. Municipal Administration Minister K. Ranga Rao later told reporters that the procedure adopted to revise the rates, which was prescribed by the Supreme Court, was "long and meticulous" taking at least six to nine months. The process had already been launched in all the civic bodies so that the new rates could come into effect from April 1, 2007.

A major reason cited by the civic bodies for a hike in the tax was their failure to pay salaries to employees for periods ranging from one to three months. The Minister also announced that 5,000 litres of drinking water per month would be allowed free of cost to all below-poverty families and white cardholders in the slums of cities and towns. The consumption would be metered and charged only after this limit. For those living in areas other than Hyderabad and the adjoining municipalities, the rates would be based on consumption slabs.

S. P. Singh, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, said the Union Government had sanctioned drinking water projects worth Rs 123 crores to Pulvidendula, Kandukur, Markapur, Miryalaguda and Adilabad.

Drainage schemes

It was also likely to clear underground drainage schemes, valued at Rs 538 crores, for Miryalaguda, Nalgonda, Proddatur, Narasaraopet, Suryapet and Rayadurg. The Chief Minister ordered release of Rs 88 crores to civic bodies towards debt servicing and Rs 50 crores to the towns to fulfil promises made during the the Rajiv Nagara Bata programme.

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