RAWALPINDI: Elected members of the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards on Sunday expressed concerns over the new tax policy, unjustified distribution of water, and poor sanitation system in their areas and urged the authorities to reverse the changes to the property tax policy.

The new policy is currently being implemented and the elected members have warned the authorities to stop its implementation within one month or face protests.

For the first time, the elected members of the cantonment boards joined hands and held a meeting on Sunday at a local hotel followed by a joint resolution asking the cantonment authorities to stop the implementation of the tax policy.

It may be mentioned here that all the Rawalpindi cantonment board members belonged to the ruling PML-N and in Chaklala Cantonment Board, the PML-N and the Jamaat-i-Islami have the majority. In both boards, there are 10 elected members each and two members each elected on minority and labour/Kissan seats.

In the meeting, the members expressed concerns over the new property tax policy. Under the new plan, the cantonment board would implement taxes on commercial and domestic properties as per the new DC rates for the property, effectively increasing the existing levies.

As per the current system, the cantonment board imposes property taxes on the recommendation of the tax assessment committee of the cantonment boards and these taxes are revised every three years.

Besides taxes, the members also asked cantonment boards to improve the water supply system in both cantonments, saying the distribution of water from Khanpur Dam was “unjustified” as it forced people to buy water from private water tankers.

They said that water was the primary problem in the cantonment areas and the authorities concerned had done nothing to improve the system.

About the commercialisation policy, the members said that cantonment boards were issuing notices to the commercial properties to submit new applications for updated commercialisation certificates under the new tax policy, terming it “unfair”.

They also expressed concerns over the poor sanitation and said that the sanitation staff failed to collect the solid waste on a daily basis and main roads and streets were littered with garbage. Due to this, they said, the areas in the cantonment were susceptible to disease outbreaks. They asked the cantonment boards to improve sanitation, recalling the cantonment areas of Rawalpindi were “neat and clean” compared to other parts of the country.

Rakh Dhamial Graveyard

About the Rakh Dhamial Graveyard, they said that the Punjab government handed over 200 kanals of land for the new graveyard in Rakh Dhamial but Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment administration failed to make it functional despite the passage of five months.

They said that there was a dire need for new management to run the graveyard amid a shortage of space in the existing graveyards.

When contacted, CCB former vice president Raja Irfan Imtiaz said that the meeting was summoned to put up a joint front and elected members from both cantonments were given one month for the acceptance of their demands.

“Otherwise, the members will meet again to chalk out a strategy so that the cantonment boards accept our demands,” he said.

He said that the issue was raised in the board meetings but the administrations of the respective cantonment boards failed to address this issue.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2024