Dumpster tactic to corner tax defaulters draws flak

Coimbatore: Residents of Cordon Bleu Central Park at Saravanampatti woke up to a rude shock on Friday when they found a rusty dumpster blocking the entrance to the gated community.
The city corporation’s tax collection officials had placed the dumpster to warn some residents of the apartment complex, who had failed to pay property tax.
Bill collector Rangarajan, who placed the dumpster, instructed the defaulters to pay up, a resident told TOI. “Of the 360-odd housing units in the complex, all had paid the tax, except 13 residents. Instead of taking action against them, the officials chose to harass all of us,” he said.
Arumugam, secretary of Cordon Bleu Central Park Apartment Owners Association, accused the corporation of high-handedness. “We did not expect this from the civic body. For the last two months, we have been working in tandem with the corporation to ensure that all the residents paid their taxes, by conducting camps. We had called up owners of the apartments and reminded them of the pending tax. We were punished for no fault,” he said.
The corporation officials removed the dumpster after 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, corporation commissioner M Prathap slammed the officials for the unacceptable behaviour. “I will conduct an inquiry into the incident,” he told TOI.
As the end of the financial year is fast approaching, civic authorities are focusing on achieving the tax collection target.