Shiv Sena, the ruling party in the BMC, may find the going tough as far as the hike in water tariff and revision of property tax are concerned due to stiff resistance from the Opposition parties.
While the NCP and the MNS have already aired their objection to both proposals, Congress — the main Opposition party — is also likely to follow suit.
In its annual budget, the BMC had proposed that societies and residential buildings pay `4 per 1,000 litres instead of the current `3.50. Industrial units will have to pay `40 per 1,000 litres, up from `25, while racecourses and three-star hotels will have to shell out `60 per 1,000 litres instead of `38. Also, the capital value system, rej-ected twice last year due to the approaching elections, is also expected to increase taxes for certain sections of taxpayers.
Taking a pro-Marathi stand, the MNS alleged that the revision of the property tax system would drive away Marathi people from south Mumbai. Group leader Dilip Lande said, “The capital value based system will increase property tax by 25 per cent in south Mumbai. So the middle class Marathi manoos who lives in chawls and currently pays one rupee per square feet will have to pay `24.69 instead. They will be driven out of south Mumbai.”
The NCP alleged that the civic administration wants to increase water tax by juggling with population figures. “The civic chief says the water tariff needs to be hiked due to the increasing population, even though the city population has inc-reased by only five lakh in 10 years,” said NCP group leader Dhananjay Pisal.