Punjab hikes stamp duty on transfer of urban property by 1%

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday okayed Rs 650 crore for first phase of the project to rejuvenate the highly-polluted Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana.

The council of ministers also decided to levy additional stamp duty of 1% on registration of sale and purchase of urban properties to fund water supply and environment improvement programmes in urban areas of the state.
An official spokesperson said that a 275 MLD capacity sewerage treatment plant would be set up, which would help bring down pollution of Buddha Nullah and the Satluj.
Pollution of the Nullah is a major threat to public health and environment. The Nullah gets polluted due to direct inflow from industries, dairies slum/localities, treated effluent from STPs based on UASB technology and overflow from sewer lines as the capacity of the sewerage system and STPs is insufficient.
The National Green Tribunal had directed the state government to take proactive steps to address the problem.