To keep political pressure at bay until the civic body elections, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) is imposing a 10% road tax on citizens.
The BJP-led MBMC's 5-year term ended in August, and in his capacity as administrator, commissioner-Dilip Dhole passed a resolution to implement the new tax on April 1, 2023. The former general body house passed a resolution allowing the concreting of all key roads in the twin city on September 2, 2019. The anticipated cost of the road concrete project is Rs 1,150 crore.
Due to the significant expenditure on medical infrastructure to combat the Covid epidemic, the MBMC has sought permission from the state government to raise funds from the Bank of Baroda to complete the first phase of the road concreting construction.
The permission to raise Rs 500 crore from the bank and an equal amount from the MMRDA was granted, but with conditions such as clearing all pending instalments of existing loans, revenue augmentation and the creation of new sources of fund generation, timely re-payment according to the loan structure specified by the lender, and no diversion of loan amounts for any other purpose.
"The MBMC will have to pump the remaining Rs. 150 crores from its own kitty. To ensure that the conditions are met and the loan instalments are made on time, the administration has no choice but to implement a road tax based on the rateable value provided in section 148 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act," said a senior MBMC official. Notably, the internal audit department has frequently expressed its desire to impose a road fee, but each time the proposal has been rejected by the general body.