Bengal PWD to begin earning from tax on roadside commercial hoardings

Kolkata, Sep 18: The West Bengal Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to create a set of rules for collecting tax against the commercial hoardings set up along roads under its control. This is a big step towards increasing the income of the department. Under the PWD’s control are 4,000 km of State Highways (numbering 18 highways), 8,000 km of roads spread across all the districts and 6,000 km of rural roads. The PWD is also responsible for the maintenance of the 3,000 km of National Highways crisscrossing the state. In the first phase, tax would be charged for hoardings along the State Highways. Currently, advertising agencies putting up the hoardings have to pay only a minimal fee for the hoardings to the local civic body or panchayat. The new rule would enable the department to collect an annual tax in lieu of the hoardings. A meeting held at the state secretariat, Nabanna involving senior officials of the PWD on August 28 set the ball rolling for taking this plan to fruition. First, a detailed report on the hoardings beside the highways in the state would be sent to the State Government. The report would also enable the administration to identify the illegal hoardings. After the report is submitted, tenders would be called from agencies for putting up hoardings. The whole process of setting up the rules would be over by September, after which the tax collection would begin. UNI