Garbage lies unattended in city housing societies over user fee dispute

Bhubaneswar: Several housing complexes that did not pay user fee saw heaps of garbage lying unattended on building premises as Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) sanitation team failed to turn up.

Residents said the BMC has evaluated the user fee of the past 12 months and is retrospectively collecting them at one time. The amount, totalling lakhs, with each two-bedroom flat being asked to pay Rs 75 per month, has been slapped on welfare societies.

“The 10-day brief compliance window is unfair. We should have been given more time, and the amount could have been collected in a staggered manner. The BMC is threatening the residents with waste pile-up if the user fee is not paid. We have the right to basic sanitation services. We can’t be deprived of that right,” said Subhra Ranjan Tripathy, secretary of Venus Royal Hyde at Rasulgarh, which has been slapped with a demand of Rs 1.34 lakh in user fee.

Earlier, the BMC move to collect an annual ‘user fee’ for waste generation by residents had triggered sharp criticism from citizen groups. The fee — separate from holding tax — is being collected for 2025-26 at one go. Residents said that instead of collecting the user fee annually, it should be made flexible.

Kailash Chandra Dash, BMC additional commissioner, said commercial establishments are being asked to pay an annual fee, but in the case of others, it can be quarterly. “In fact, residents should try to understand that it is not being collected retrospectively. The charge is that of the current financial year. Following up monthly collection is a bit difficult. We are not stopping waste collection,” he said.