Eluru (West Godavari): Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) Anil Chandra Punitha lauded the efforts of the district administration, especially that of District Collector Katamneni Bhaskar and Joint Collector P Koteswara Rao for crossing the fixed target and collecting 408 per cent of the water cess in the district.

Addressing the district officials at the Collectorate through a video-conference from Hyderabad, he said that while several other districts failed to collect the fixed targets of water cess, the West Godavari district officials should be commended for fixing Rs 4.80 crore as target to be collected during the financial year 2014-15 but ending up collecting a whopping Rs 18 crore.

The CCLA asked the District Collectors as to why some districts were not able to realise the fixed targets in collecting the water tax, while some others could do it. He enquired from them as to why districts like Kadapa, Anantapur and Visakhapatnam were still below the mark in collecting taxes and reaching the targets.

Anil Chandra said that it was unfortunate that in Kadapa, even 9 per cent of the fixed target was not realised and the situation was no better in Visakhapatnam and Anantapur districts. Faulting them for their laxity and indifference, he directed the officials concerned to take special interest and collect the water taxes.

He said that after the bifurcation of the State, 545 Deputy Collectors and other officials have to be allotted to the two states. He directed the officials to get their degree certificates attested by a gazette officer and upload them online. He said that the process of promotions for the senior officers in the Revenue Department should be completed soon.

Participating in the conference, Joint Collector Pulipati Koteswara Rao said that 96 per cent of the work pertaining to uploading the details of the available government land in the district online has been completed and the remaining 4 per cent would be completed soon, he said.