‘Withdraw decision to impose user fee on Bengaluru residents’: State Assembly LoP

BENGALURU: Karnataka Assembly Leader of Opposition (LoP) R Ashoka on Wednesday criticised the ruling Congress-led state government for burdening Bengaluru residents with excessive taxes and accused them of devising a scheme to extract revenue from garbage.

Speaking to reporters at BBMP, Ashoka claimed that Congress imposes the highest garbage tax in the entire country and said, “Congress has burdened Bengaluru residents with excessive taxes and accused them of devising a scheme to extract revenue from garbage. While Kempegowda earned the title of Nadaprabhu for building the state, Congress leaders have earned the title of those who ruined it.”

“The city previously had a cess. Now, a user fee has been added alongside it. The cess alone collects around Rs 250 crore. While the garbage tender is valued at Rs 147 crore, excessive fees are being collected from the public. With the user fee, the collection could reach Rs 500-600 crore,” Ashoka said.

He argued that either the user fee or the cess should be collected, but Bengaluru is being burdened with both. This will increase house rents, as well as rates for commercial buildings, marriage halls, hospitals, schools, and hotels.

“One tax will lead to an increase in all rates. Congress is looting Bengaluru residents. They use the excuse of a central government law, even though no central law mandates imposing two types of fees,” he claimed.

He urged the government to convene a meeting of Bengaluru MLAs to discuss this issue.

He said no other city imposes such high fees, and this is an “uncivilised move.”

“The taxes are being collected to fund Congress’s five guarantee schemes and demanded that the decision be withdrawn immediately,” he said.

He noted that Bengaluru residents have already started protests, and they will receive full support. He claimed that the state’s financial situation has deteriorated due to the guarantee schemes, and efforts are being made to reduce the number of beneficiaries. Only those who voted for Congress will benefit from the guarantee schemes, he alleged.

Earlier on Tuesday, R Ashoka visited the rain-affected areas of Sakleshpur in Hassan district and criticised the Congress-led state government for its lack of preparedness and negligence in dealing with the monsoon.

Speaking to reporters, Ashoka said that the government had failed to take timely precautionary measures and urged it to expedite compensation for those affected by landslides and heavy rains.

“Monsoon has arrived 15 days early, for the first time in 50 years. The Chief Minister should have held a meeting before the monsoon started. Every time there is damage, there is a delay of one to two months in providing compensation. Landslides are happening in Sakleshpur, Chikkamagaluru, and Kodagu. The government should take precautionary measures and provide compensation, but the government has not done anything till now… Not a single minister has inspected the site…” he alleged.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwest monsoon has advanced into several parts of India, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and regions of the Northeast.

This year, the Southwest Monsoon set in over Kerala on May 24, eight days earlier than its normal onset date of June 1, marking its earliest arrival on the Indian mainland since 2009.

Earlier, the Met Centre predicted that heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to continue over west coast (Kerala, Karnataka, coastal Maharashtra & Goa) during next 6-7 days with possibility of extremely heavy rainfall over Kerala during 27-30 May and Konkan, ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra, Coastal and Ghat areas of Karnataka, Ghat areas of Tamil Nadu on 27 May. (ANI)