Nashik: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to act against water tax defaulters after the Diwali festival. Currently, the focus of the civic body is on distributing water bills to the consumers. Around 1.80 lakh of the total 2.10 lakh water consumers have so far been sent the water bills and the civic administration is in the process of distributing the remaining bills at the earliest.An NMC official, while talking to TOI, said they are focusing on distribution of water bills to all the customers and dont want to take any action during the festive period.But we will start snapping water connections of the defaulters after Diwali, the official said.The NMC has set a water tax collection target of Rs 75 crore for the current financial year, but so far it has managed to collect only Rs 24 crore. The civic body needs to collect another Rs 51 crore in the next four months. The civic body had collected Rs 65 crore towards water tax after conducting continuous drive during the fourth quarter of the last financial year 2022-23.The move to snap water connections of the defaulters had yielded good results in the last fiscal. Between February and March 2022, various teams of the civic body had visited the homes of over 10,000 defaulters having collective dues of over Rs 12 crore. As a result, over 90% defaulters cleared their dues.This year too, the civic body is planning to send teams to the homes of the defaulters and issue a 15-day notice, the official said.We also published the following articles recentlyCurchorem council cracks down on defaulting tradersThe Chairperson of Curchorem Cacora Municipal Council (CCMC) in Margao has warned traders in the Cada building to pay their outstanding trade tax within 15 days or face action. The municipality is owed around Rs 15-16 lakhs in trade tax from the traders. If they fail to pay, their premises may be sealed or their shops auctioned. CCMC is in a poor financial position and is taking measures to recover outstanding revenue. Councillors are concerned about the large amount owed in various fees.UCO Bank asks staff to gift sweets to defaultersUCO Bank, a public-sector bank in Kolkata, has taken an unconventional approach to dealing with defaulters. Instead of publicly shaming them, the bank has asked its staff to distribute sweets to the top 10 defaulters in each branch during Diwali. The circular from the banks general manager in charge of recovery emphasizes the need to establish a connection with defaulters and recognizes that not all of them are wilful defaulters. The initiative aligns with practices of peer public sector banks.Jarange has water, will stop today if demands not metMaratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange, who has been on a hunger strike for seven days, reiterated his demand for blanket reservation for the entire Maratha community. He stated that if the demand is not met by Wednesday evening, he will stop drinking water again. Jarange rejected the governments decisions made on Tuesday and requested a special session of the state legislature to issue Kunbi certificates to all Marathas. He also declined medical treatment and refused to shift the agitation to Mumbai. MNS chief Raj Thackeray wrote a letter urging Jarange to withdraw the fast and teach politicians a lesson.

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