penalisation drive to begin

Vijayawada, Oct. 1: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) will take up a campaign for Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS) from December 1 to 26 in order to ensure regularisation of all unauthorised structures in the city.

The VMC has served notices to 7,655 applicants in the city asking the building owners to regularise their constructions. But, most respondents ignored the notices.

In this backdrop, the VMC staff will conduct a door-to-door campaign reminding the building owners to regularise their structures in all municipal divisions.

In the first phase, the VMC collected a revenue of Rs 18 crore in the form of BPS. It collected Rs 6.5 crore additionally in the second phase which includes Rs .2 crore in three BPS Adalats conducted recently.

The municipal commissioner, Mr P. Pradyumna, told reporters on Monday the VMC will process the applications in the three circle offices from December 1 to 26 to ensure regularisation.

He said fresh applications can be submitted in the three circles in case the applications went missing.

Mr Pradyumna said there was a good response for the BPS Adalat recently organised in the three circles. He said 7,655 applications were endorsed in the city.

Replying to a question, he said the VMC set a target of Rs 70 crore revenue under the scheme but collected only Rs 25 crore.

Mr Pradyumna hoped to complete the regularisation of buildings by December 2009.

Pointing to proposals of Greater Vijayawada, the commissioner said the nearby villages will be developed with the merger of panchayats into the city and recalled that the developmental works worth Rs 1,450 crore are being taken up in the city under the JNNURM scheme.

He said the government will sanction funds under various schemes to the citiy for the development of infrastructure.

The commissioner underlined the need for the expansion of the city.

Referring to the proposed dumping yard in Nunna village, the commissioner said the VMC will follow the Supreme Court guidelines to ensure protection of environment and hygiene in the village.

He said scientific methods will be applied in the proposed new dumping yard. The VMC is trying to acquire 100 acres of land and paid Rs 9 crore to the revenue department.