Relief for property owners: property tax hike reduced to 50%
Within days of announcing a likely increase in property tax to as much as 100%, the Government reduceD the cap to 50% for residential buildings. The rollback on tax hike came after requests from the public, and resident welfare associations. The owners of residential buildings, irrespective of whether they are self-occupied or rented out, will now face a tax rate hike of not more than 50%.
Source: Times of India
Are private schools hampered by the fixed fee rule?
The recent controversy surrounding the demand of a caution deposit by a private school, has once again brought to the fore the problems faced by self-financing schools due to fixation of fees by the government. These schools claim to provide better infrastructure and a favourable teacher to student ratio, as well as a range of extra curricular activities ranging to outdoor trips to music lessons. However, they are prohibited from charging fees in excess of the amount determined by a Fee Determination Committee, under The Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009.
Administrators say parents have become more demanding in the range and quality of teaching and activities for their wards, and an arbitrary ceiling on fees puts their viability at risk.
Source: The Hindu
Chennai coast shrinking due to sea erosion
A report by the National Centre for Coastal Research on the Indian Coastal line has revealed that over 30% of Chennai’s coastline is shrinking due to sea erosion, while in Tamil Nadu as a whole, more than 40% has eroded, with the coast along Tuticorin and Tirunelveli region being severely affected.
Source: Times of India
Treated water from Metrowater for industries at Manali
CMWSSB has fixed the rate for recycled water at 120 per kilolitre (KL) for water supply from its two reverse osmosis plants to industries at Manali. Representatives from SIPCOT, TANGEDCO, CPCL, MFL, SIMA and other industries were present at the meeting headed by the Board’s Managing Director.
Apart from the Tertiary Treated Reverse Osmosis (TTRO) water, industries can also use secondary treated sewage and raw sewage according to their needs. Rates for supply of treated sewage and raw sewage were fixed at Rs 18.40 per KL and Rs 3 per KL respectively.
Source: New Indian Express | News Today
Flash strike by sewage lorry owners in South Chennai
Sewage lorry owners went on a flash strike on Thursday, July 26, demanding relaxation in operation timings. This put residents of Rajiv Gandhi Salai, ECR, Pallikaranai and Medavakkam in a fix. Every day, these lorries make around 300 trips to the sewage treatment plant at Perungudi. Police are now trying to restrict their operations between 11 am and 4 pm, which is likely to affect both commercial establishments and residents in these areas .
Source: The Hindu
[Compiled by Sandhya Raju]