Mumbai: Did a pothole eat up BMC's property tax proposal to Devendra Fadnavis?

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Amid the two estranged allies' political one-upmanship, the common man is suffering, once again. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said he did not receive any proposal from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on property tax waiver for houses up to 500 square feet, but response to a Right to Information (RTI) application states the civic body had sent a formal proposal to the government.

'We sent it'
In January, a YouTuber from Mumbai Central, Azad Jain, had filed the RTI query before the BMC to know the status of Shiv Sena's promise. The reply he received on February 2 informed that a proposal passed (July 6, 2017) in the civic House along with a letter (dated July 18, 2017) written by Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar to the chief minister was sent to the state government for approval, and that there had been no reply from the latter.

Jain told mid-day, "The fight between political parties (Shiv Sena and BJP) is taking its toll on common citizens like me. We voted for them because of Sena's promise.

'We didn't get it'
"A few months back, I got a call from D ward civic officials telling me to pay property tax. When I reminded them about the promise of property tax waiver for 500-sqft homes, they denied that any such rule is being passed. This triggered me to file an RTI application to know the status."

Following BMC's reply, Jain filed another RTI application online before the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) to get the status from the other side. "I was shocked to see that CMO's reply (March 6) informed there is no such proposal or letter from the mayor. If state is saying it hasn't got any such proposal, where has the proposal and letter gone?" he questioned.

Another activist from Kurla, Shakeel Shaikh, said, "In an attempt to take credit for property tax waiver, both parties are delaying the process. The proposal should be passed immediately and citizens should get the benefits as soon as possible."