BMP to clear cityscape of illegal hoardings

BMP to clear cityscape of illegal hoardings

Every day 100 illegal hoardings in the City will be brought down.

Deccan Herald

A week-long action against unauthorised and non-Kannada hoardings and graffiti on public walls and spaces will be taken up by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike next week.

It shall be ‘100-a day’: at the rate of one hoarding in every ward, 100 unauthorised hoardings shall be brought down in a day, Mayor R Narayanaswamy told the BMP Council on Thursday. The drive shall begin after the BMP approves its budget for the year. The budget proposals were discussed during the last two days. The replies and approval are likely on Friday.

Asphalting
The mayor ordered that Rs 50 crore of the pending bills to the contractors involved in road asphalting works be released in two days time.

Asphalting a 1000 km stretch along various roads will be completed by May-end, about 60 per cent of the work is presently through, BMP Chief Engineer Rame Gowda said. It was noted that an experts’ committee which studied the contractors demand for additional funds citing rise in cost of raw materials, found the demand genuine in the case of steel and bitumen.

Accordingly, the BMP will bear 89 per cent and 88 per cent of the additional cost of steel and bitumen respectively. But it is on the condition that the work will be completed by end of May, Mr Rame Gowda said.

Commissioner Jothiramalingam said the BWSSB will be asked to review the borewell cess it collects on the sanitary lines drawn for borewell owners. Earlier, some BMP members termed the borewell cess as daylight robbery. Taking a dig at the BWSSB, a corporator noted perhaps a cess should be levied on BWSSB everytime sewage is let into storm water drains maintained by the BMP.

RESOLUTION

SAS scheme to continue for 6 months

In view of the BMP’s appeal for certain changes to the Capital Value Scheme pending before the government, the property tax collections during the first half of this year may continue with the Self Assessment Scheme, the BMP Council resolved on Thursday.

It was agreed that the difference in payments if any will be adjusted accordingly when the CVS is introduced.

It may noted that property tax payments for the year may be made from April 1 to May 31 without any penalties.