Coimbatore Corporation Council approves property tax hike

COIMBATORE A late evening Coimbatore Corporation Council meeting on Thursday saw Mayor push through

A late evening Coimbatore Corporation Council meeting on Thursday saw Mayor push through resolutions without much of a debate and a few councillors put down their feet to modify, postpone and reject a few subjects placed for consideration.

In the meeting that began around 3.30 p.m. and went on till about 9.30 p.m., the Council took up 83 subjects for discussion, including the one approving the revision of property tax. Mayor Kalpana Anandakumar, who presided over the meeting, pushed 19 subjects at the very last minute, which the Council passed without debate.

As soon as the Council meeting began, councillors cutting across party lines were up on their feet complaining about they getting the subjects very late. A councillor said she did not receive a few subjects and another councillor said she got the subjects only a couple of hours before the meeting.

For ordinary meetings like the one held on Thursday, the Corporation sent the subjects to be taken up for deliberation two to three days prior to date of the meeting.

Opposing the way the Corporation handed over the subjects and leading the attack against it was DMK councillor K. Selvaraj (Ward 72), who said the Mayor should take up for deliberation only the first 13 subjects that the Corporation handed over to councillors in time.

The rest, he suggested, the Corporation could take it up on Friday or a couple of days later. CPI(M) councillor V. Ramamoorthy (Ward 12) also spoke about the lack of time to study the subjects and the result the delay it had on having a reasoned debate in the Council.

As one councillor after another spoke in favour of another Council meeting, Mayor Ms. Anandakumar went ahead by tabling all the 83 resolutions.