Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 1 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Dr. CN Ashwath Narayan on Tuesday took a dig at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) over the "garbage cess," alleging that the urban local body has not performed well with the allocated money.
Speaking to the media, Ashwath Narayan said that the Congress government in Karnataka is running an "ATM" government. He further alleged that BBMP has completely failed at waste management.
"The money they have been collecting so far--have they been accountable for it? Are they accountable? Do they have any benchmarks regarding black spots or waste that has not been cleared? There are many issues. The people of Bengaluru are seeing garbage everywhere. After collecting so much money, they are now adding more cess. On what basis? What gives them the power to collect more money? They are not performing well with the money already collected," the BJP MLA said.
"They are not cleaning the city nor collecting or disposing of waste. They have completely failed in waste management. We totally condemn this. There is no doubt that the Congress government in Karnataka is running an ATM government. This is an allegation we have been making continuously across all aspects," he added.
This statement came after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) implemented a "garbage cess," under which the residents of Bengaluru will have to pay a solid waste management user fee, effective from April 1.
Under the new system, the solid waste management company will levy a cess on trash every month. Different types of taxes are being levied on shops, hotels, and residential buildings.
According to BBMP, hotels that previously paid Rs 5 per kg of garbage will now have to pay Rs 12 per kg.
For residential buildings, the cess will be based on the building's size in square feet. Buildings up to 600 square feet will have to pay Rs 10 per month, while buildings ranging from 600 square feet to 1,000 square feet will need to pay Rs 50.
Buildings between 1,000 and 2,000 square feet will have to pay Rs 100 per month, while those between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet will pay Rs 150.
Buildings ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 square feet will be charged Rs 200 per month, while buildings above 4,000 square feet will be charged Rs 400 per month.
BBMP will collect the trash tax annually through property tax. The new decision is expected to raise Rs 600 crore annually. The BBMP has introduced this measure to raise money from various sources to fill its coffers.