Water tax collection drops in 50 pc municipal councils of Marathwada.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The collection of water taxes in 75 municipal councils of Marathwada has been dropped by 50 per cent as they failed to maintain regular water supply as per their respective schedule.

The collection of outstanding and current year tax recorded till March 2023 is 49.84 per cent (including an outstanding collection of 39.38 pc). The recovery of tax recorded till March end was Rs 62.98 crore.

Meanwhile, the collection in a few councils including Jalna is less than 25 per cent.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, the tax recovery is Rs 6.79 crore, out of Rs 12.32 crore (55.11 pc). The collection of Sillod Municipal Council is 91 pc and Gangapur Municipal Council is 23.53 pc.

The collection percentage in Parbhani district is 76.81 pc; Hingoli district is 67.50 pc; Nanded district is 60 pc; Beed district is 68 pc; Latur district is 42.35 pc and Dharashiv district is 76 pc.

Total MCs in the region

There is a total of 75 municipal councils in the Marathwada region. The district-wise strength is eight in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; nine in Jalna; eight in Parbhani; five in Hingoli; 16 in Nanded; 11 in Beed; nine in Latur and 10 in Dharashiv. Of all the MCs, 50 per cent of them supply water in taps on a gap of one-two days.

Collection affected due to irregular water supply

It is learnt that the supply of water in Jalna is made on a gap of 10-15 days in the district. This has affected the collection of water tax. The tax collection was 20.69 pc and it includes 15.49 pc from the city.

Action Plan of Rs 100 crore

Assuming that water scarcity will prevail in Marathwada’s 5,386 villages and hamlets, the administration has prepared an action plan of Rs 100 crore. It is assumed that Rs 60.83 crore to supply water through tankers in July and August. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, there will be in need of Rs 4.84 crore for 249 villages and 522 hamlets; Rs 10.93 crore for 1,393 villages and 872 hamlets in Nanded district; Rs 14.54 crore for 1,344 villages of Dharashiv district; Rs 25.84 crore for Jalna district and Rs 25.83 crore for Beed district.