ANANTAPUR: The tax collectors of Anantapur Municipal Corporation have reportedly siphoned off nearly Rs 20 lakh. The fraud came to light during an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) into the corporation's accounts from 2005-06 to 2009-10. There were no accounts for the water cess collected and whatever the tax collected it is not credited to the corporation account. Besides, tax collection is very poor, the CAG report said. The CAG report exposed large scale fraud in property tax collection. Huge amounts were misappropriated by corporation employees and no effort was made to recover arrears running into crores of rupees, the report said. Corporation schools lack basic facilities, sanitation in the city is very poor and drinking water supply is irregular, it added.The municipal corporation has 14 shopping complexes with total 223 shops. They include the complex of 102 shops opened in 2002. From 16 shops in the complex, Rs 7.43 lakh less goodwill was collected and also 22 shops are still vacant. As a result, the corporation lost Rs 1.17 crore till July 2010 and shop rents to the tune of Rs 1 crore were also due. The corporation is losing revenue in absence of proper maintenance of the shopping complexes.Drinking water supply leaves much to be desired in the corporation, with a population of three lakh. Drinking water samples were tested between October 2005 and March 2006, which exposed high levels of dangerous bacteria. However, no remedial measures were taken till now and no water sample tests were conducted after 2006, the report said. The corporation does not even have a record of the number of water taps in the city, it added.The corporation does not have a mechanism to clear encroachments and take action against the culprits, the report said.According to the CAG report, the corporation lost Rs 2.43 crore from 2006 to 2010 as a result of excess private sanitation staff. Still, drainage canals are not cleaned properly.While the Central government released Rs 5.76 crore for solid waste management between 2006 and 2010, the corporation spent only Rs 2.10 crore out of it.Out of the total 51 schools run by the corporation, as many as 18 do not have drinking water facility and also the number of toilets is disproportionately low. There were no toilets at all at 20 schools, neither for the students nor for the teaching staff. Many school buildings are in a dilapidated condition.
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