Kurnool: Municipal Commissioner P. Viswanath has directed officials to issue red notices to tax evaders and long-pending defaulters to accelerate municipal revenue collections in the city. Chairing a teleconference with revenue, nodal and administrative staff on Wednesday, the Commissioner reviewed the status of arrears, with a special focus on the top 20 chronic defaulters. He instructed officials to ensure coordinated efforts to recover pending dues before the end of the month and to clearly explain the importance of municipal taxes to the public.

The Commissioner made it clear that municipal services will be disconnected if defaulters fail to respond even after receiving red notices. He stressed that attention should not be limited to property tax alone, but should also cover drinking water connection charges, trade licence arrears and other municipal dues. Daily monitoring of ward-wise collections was mandated, and officials were warned that no laxity would be tolerated in achieving revenue targets.

In a parallel review, Commissioner Viswanath assessed the progress of development works worth Rs.25 crore being undertaken across the city’s 52 wards. Of this, Rs.23 crore is being executed from general funds, Rs.1.50 crore from the 15th Finance Commission grants and Rs 60 lakh from NCAP funds. He instructed engineering officials to ensure that all works are completed strictly within the stipulated timelines.

Emphasising quality, speed and effective supervision, the Commissioner directed officials to exert necessary pressure on contractors wherever delays were noticed and to take corrective steps without hesitation. He underlined that development works should be carried out with proper advance planning so that public inconvenience is minimised, reiterating that delays in civic infrastructure projects would not be accepted.