Dwindling property-tax collections has prompted the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) to introduce punitive measures against defaulters.

More than Rs 300 crore of property tax has remained unrealised from commercial and residential buildings over the past two decades.

During a meeting on Friday, mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay were informed by officials that property-tax collection had fallen by Rs 16 crore, compared with the corresponding quarter last year.

The municipal commissioner subsequently formulated a set of punitive actions that were ratified by the mayor on Monday. ?I am against waiver of interest schemes. After a month?s notice, we should not spare a second thought before cracking down on defaulters,? asserted Bhattacharya.

The punitive action includes disconnection of water supply, attachment of property, rent attachment and auctioning of immovable property..

According to a priority list drawn up by the CMC, punitive action will first be taken against owners of properties in the central business districts, comprising Burrabazar, BBD Bag, Esplanade, Chowringhee and Camac Street, owing over Rs 1 lakh in taxes. In other areas, property-owners owing over Rs 25,000 will be targeted first.

During the meeting, it was brought to the mayor?s notice that over Rs 110 crore of property tax remains locked in litigation. He has asked Bandyopadhyay to try and settle the cases out of court.

?We will negotiate with the house-owners who had moved court, as they were not satisfied with the amounts charged from them by way of property tax. The cases have been hibernating in the courts,? the mayor stated.

After a month?s notice ? which is mandatory as per the law ? the property-tax collectors will send reminders to the defaulters. Collection officers might even visit the property-owners.

Posters will be put up on the walls of buildings from which property tax is yet to be realised, and insertions will be published in newspapers.

If the owners still do not pay up, water supply to the buildings will be cut off, followed by attachment of rent and the premises. In extreme cases, the buildings may be sold by an auction.