RTI tells Pallavaram residents that local body owes them Rs 58 lakh

Jeeva; TNN; Apr 5, 2011,

CHENNAI: Here is good news for house owners in areas falling under the Pallavaram municipality. The local body has admitted, in a reply to an application under the Right To Information Act, that it owes them a total of Rs 58 lakh towards repayment of a deposit they made while getting building permission.

The deposit Rs 500 for individual houses and Rs 1,000 for multi-storey buildings had been collected since 2002 from thousands of house owners to compel them to set up rain water harvesting structures (RWH) on their premises. But not many knew they could get back the amount once they put up the RWH structures.

According to the municipality's reply on March 17 to the RTI application filed by V Santhanam of Chromepet, the total deposit amount has been lying in its bank account. Just one residents in the whole municipal area had applied, in February this year, for the refund in the last nine years. And the applicant was told "steps are being taken to repay his deposit," the reply disclosed.

While the RTI reply disclosed that the local body had been collecting the deposit following a resolution passed in February 2002, many house owners in the area blame the authorities for not informing them, for nearly a decade now, that it was actually refundable.

"The municipality never announced or informed the house owners that it was a refundable amount. How can people apply for the amount unless they know they can get it back? We don't understand what prevented the local body from making an announcement, either in newspapers or at least displating it on its notice board, even after the deposits have accumulated to over half-a-crore?" Santhanam, the RTI activist, wondered.

The municipality has its own defence. "The word `deposit' itself means it is refundable. So there is no need to make a separate announcement. House owners can get back the amount by making an application once they put up the RWH structure on their premises," said municipal commissioner C Vijayakumar. He also said the deposit would not carry any interest and that houseowners would get only what they paid.

Asked if the local body was checking the condition of the RWH structures, a senior official said: "We give instructions to the residents to maintain them properly."