Rajiv Kakria
Sr. Vice Chairman, E-Block GK-I RWA.
9810275168
- I take objection to their Argument and Attitude to Raise Property Tax
The following are our Objection .....
Reasons for pleading that Greater Kailash-I should not be put in ‘A’ Category for levying Property Tax under the ‘Unit Area Method - Municipal Valuation Committee
ECONOMIC STATUS
1. Greater Kailash-I was planned and established by DLF in mid 1950’s
2. GK comprises of all categories of Govt./Public Sector officers,Professionals, and Industrialists. The colony as such, does not have a defined strata of population.
3. Considerable number of residents are Senior Citizens/widows living on Pension. One therefore, wonders if putting their property in Category ‘A’ is fair.
4. Most of the buildings in the colony having been constructed around 55 years ago are crumbling and need extensive repairs/maintenance. A high and disproportionate increase in Property Tax will aggravate the misery of the residents, especially widows, civil servants and original occupants.
DEBILITATING FACTORS
5. The colony is an island surrounded by innumerable problems on all four sides. On the southern side, is the busy Outer Ring Road, the northern side has Zamrudpur Village which now houses a large floating Population with very few origional land owners, thus increasing the security risk of the residents. To the West, is the dreaded BRT that entraps the residents forcing them to take alternate routes, thus increased fuel expenses and time. Finally on the Eastern side, is the narrow 100 feet Lala Lajpat Rai Marg connecting Nehru Place, Govindpuri, Chitranjan Park, Kalkaji, Alaknanda etc. all high desity colonies and this being the only connection with the Ring Road is always facing Traffic Jams. The elevated Metro has defaced this stretch and eaten up the already narrow road. These surroundings lead not only to air and noise pollution, but also increase insecurity, parking problems and unhygienic conditions within and outside the colony.
6. From North to South, i.e. BRT to Outer Ring Road, the colony is cut into half by Hansraj Gupta Marg which essentially is an internal colony road, cutting across and connecting these two arterial roads leading to Nehru Place and other colonies mentoned above. This is seen as a short cut to avoid the heavy traffic at BRT and Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and used as a thorough fare. The resultant effect is devastating to the ecology of the colony. Not only that, the continuous movement of this heavy traffic on this congested colony road is hazardous. It would be appreciated that all this, adds to the hardship and discomfort of the senior residents and children, which form a high percentage of the population of this colony.
7. Some of the community services provided by the Municipal Corporation are indeed dismal e.g. Maintenance of the Public Parks and collection of the household garbage amongst others. These activities are progressively being taken over by the residents under the aegis of the Residents Welfare Association. For this, commensurate relief in the Property Tax to be charged must be given.
8. Sewage disposal is a serious problem. It was designed for single units with very small diameter pipes that were laid at the inception of the colony and are now totally inadequate because over the period, the existing diameter has been further reduced by silting and such like measures. There is not a day when a major portion of the lines is not blocked. This causes most unhygienic conditions.
9. The Water pipes are old and decadent. The number of residences has increased, but the water pipes have remained unchanged. This leads to slow and poor water supply. Furthermore when the Colony was developed there was 24 hours water supply with no need of storage tanks, today we get water only for 2 hours that too at mid night causing hardships and sleepless nights.
10. Parking of cars by commercial establishments like Guest Houses, Banks, Shops etc. in the colony lanes is causing major Parking problems. Residents find no space for vehicles outside their own homes. All these issues lead to instances of road rage.
11. Security: The colony road – Hansraj Gupta Marg is now a thorough fare. As such the colony cannot put up either gates or boom barriers for Security. This leaves the entire colony open and insecure, more so during night hours.
12. Metro line is on the Lala Lajpat Rai Marg side. For most of the GK-I residents it is one to two Kms from their residences. Old residents will hardly be able to make use of this facility. Even for other residents by the time it reaches Kailash Colony it is too croweded. Metro is passing thru our area but is not that huge a boon to warrant an increase in Taxes.
13. Public Transport: earlier there were 8 bus routes passing through GK-I with 5 routes starting from here. Today the colony is infested with the Rickshaw menace which was not there even 5 years back.
14. Storm Water Drains were laid when the colony was established and today they are of no use having lost their gradient and causes water logging and spread of Dengu, Maleria, etc.
15. Increased FAR, Height and Dwelling Units has resulted in a strain on infrastructure ie. Water, Power, Parking, Play Grounds etc. MCD stands to gain manifold with this move alone not to mention allowing Commersial establishments and charging them more without caring about the security of residents and depleted infrastructure.
16. Parking Mess, Encroached Foot Paths, Filthy Back Lanes ....... Need we say More?????
17. No Change in Parameters 1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 as accepted by the Valuation Committee further proves our contention that there is no justification in upgrading GK-I to A-Category. In fact Quality of life is far inferior today and being a welfare state in such times of infltion the tax burden should be reduced.