Pune: Wagholi Residents Serve Legal Notice To PMC Demanding Property Tax Cancellation Over Lack Of Civic Services
Wagholi, 23th December 2023: In a bold move, residents of Wagholi have issued a legal notice to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) seeking the cancellation of property tax until adequate civic amenities such as roads, water supply, drainage systems, and effective garbage management are provided.
The legal notice, spearheaded by Advocate Pradip Solase on behalf of Anil Kumar Mishra, the Founder of Team Wagholi Against Corruption Organization (WACO) & Resident of Neo City Phase 1 & Wagholi area, was issued under section 487 of The Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act.
Key grievances highlighted in the notice shed light on the dire situation faced by Wagholi residents since the village merged with PMC in July 2021. Despite the two-year timeline, significant development on the ground, especially concerning essential services like roads, water supply, drainage systems, and garbage management, remains conspicuously absent.
The lives of Wagholi citizens are at risk due to inadequate road infrastructure plagued by potholes and perennial waterlogging. Shockingly, Wagholi inhabitants are compelled to spend significant sums annually to procure water from private suppliers as PMC fails to provide any water supply.
Additionally, the absence of proper garbage disposal services aggravates the situation, leading residents to engage private agencies for waste removal. This problem is further compounded by the rampant open dumping and garbage burning, causing environmental hazards.
Furthermore, the lack of a functional drainage system results in regular sewage overflow, turning roads into streams during rainfall, endangering residents’ safety.
The notice raises pertinent questions about the logic behind imposing property tax components like water tax, road tax, sewage tax, and cleaning tax without commensurate services being provided by PMC. It challenges the issuance of property tax bills with retrospective effect, demanding a waiver until services are provided.
The demands put forward by Wagholi residents include the publication of PMC’s development plans for the area, immediate provision of water and other essential services, removal of illogical tax components from property tax bills, issuance of corrected property tax bills for the upcoming financial year, and refraining from collecting retrospective property tax.
In the event of PMC’s failure to address these concerns and take necessary action, Wagholi residents are prepared to pursue legal recourse against the PMC in the appropriate court.
