Hike in water tax rate at English Bazaar

MALDA, Oct. 9: The water tax row is back to haunt the residents of English Bazaar town. The Congress, Trinamul and the BJP-led English Bazaar civic board has decided to enhance the water tax rate in the town. It may be recalled that the previous civic board, led by the CPI-M, had waived the water tax rate by 50 per cent. Mr Narendranath Tiwari, chairman of the newly formed civic body, said: “The previous board had reduced the water tax to earn cheap popularity. We have decided to increase the rate of water tax to make a balance between income and expenditure of the civic body.” Mr Tiwari said the new rate would be executed in specific commercial establishments soon. The former civic body chief, Mr NR Ghosh, however, said the decision to enhance the water tax rate was “anti-people”. In English Bazaar, dozens of unemployed youths were engaged to collect water tax on commission basis.The water tax collection concept was introduced in English Bazaar by the Trinamul-led civic body chief, Mr KN Choudhury. n SNS