Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has announced an extension of its One Time Settlement Scheme, offering a 50 per cent discount on outstanding water tax payments. Initially set to end on August 25, the scheme has been extended from August 28 to September 6.
This decision was made by Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav and municipal commissioner Shivam Verma following the government's instructions and people’s demand. Bhargav said that since the scheme's announcement, the corporation has successfully collected over Rs 32 crore from 30,282 taxpayers. He expressed satisfaction with the public response and emphasised that this extension would give more citizens the opportunity to clear their dues at a discounted rate.
The scheme is being implemented across more than 100 locations in the city, providing accessible avenues for payment. The Mayor said that around Rs 560 crore outstanding water cess recovery is pending. ‘With one time settlement scheme, we would get Rs 230 crore. We had set a target of recovering at least Rs 125 crore under one-time settlement scheme. So far, we collected more than Rs 32 crore.
We are hopeful of more recoveries in the next 10 days, he added. The IMC also issued a stern warning regarding illegal water connections. Officials have been instructed to permanently disconnect any such connections and to file FIRs against offenders. ‘Residents are encouraged to take advantage of this extension, as the scheme aims to ease the financial burden on citizens while enhancing the corporation's revenue collection efforts,’ the Mayor said.
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IMC to turn basements back to parking facilities
Noting that an ongoing survey being conducted by the IMC has revealed that out of approximately 1,100 basements in commercial buildings identified across the city, 90 per cent are not being used for parking as intended, the Mayor said that buildings found violating the rule will face closure of their unauthorised commercial activities and efforts will be made to convert basements back to parking facilities in phased manner. ‘In the first phase, we will convert basements of such buildings back to parking facilities which are located close to squares so that illegal parking of vehicles near intersections stops,’ he added.
