The Hindu

• It’s with regard to operation and maintenance costs of plants
• Corporation plans to introduce infrastructure cess
• Mangalore city poised for big growth

Mangalore, Jan 11: Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) and Mangalore Special Economic Zone Ltd. will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the operation and maintenance of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the city.

The STPs are being constructed by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, under its Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Coastal Environmental Management Project.

Stating this at a review meeting on urban local bodies, convened by the Third State Finance Commission here on Thursday, Deputy Commissioner and administrator of MCC M Maheshwar Rao said that under the proposed MoU, the MSEZ would take the treated water from the STPs to meet its requirement. “The water requirement for MSEZ is huge. The water from STPs will be treated once again by them before using it,” he said.

New levies

The MSEZ would bear the operation and maintenance costs of STPs. “This will result in an annual saving of around Rs. 10 crore to Rs 12 crore for MCC,” he said. A special purpose vehicle would be formed for the purpose, he said and added “STPs are being set up across the city as part of the underground water drainage system to be commissioned by end of the year.”

Noting that the city was poised for huge growth, Rao said the corporation was proposing to introduce infrastructure cess to set up a mass rapid transport system. The corporation, which would introduce the paid parking facility in certain areas, was also contemplating on levying congestion cess on vehicles and cess for operation and maintenance of public utilities, he said.

Referring to the system of the Government adjusting the dues payable from the corporation to Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd. at source, he said: “Instead, the Government should remit the amount directly to the corporation. This will give MCC an incentive to adopt power saving technology and the savings thereof can be utilised by it to meet the expenditure on development activities.”

Revenue sharing

In reply to MCC commissioner Krishnappa Poojary’s demand to apportion greater share of the revenues collected locally for development needs of urban local bodies, T. Thimme Gowda, member of the commission, said: “We are looking at allocating around 40 per cent of State’s gross revenue to urban and rural civic bodies based on population, size and backwardness of the area.” Reacting to complaints by chief officers and administrators of urban local bodies on ceiling imposed for raising taxes, Gowda said the commission would recommend to the Government to amend the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964, and Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, 1976.