MCCIA president Pratap Pawar lambasted the PCMC authorities for totally neglecting the grievances of the industrialists in the area and accused the corporation of adopting harsh measures against industries already reeling under the effect of the economic slow-down and recession in the market.

PCMC had withdrawn the concession of 1.25 per cent octroi on raw materials to many industries, he said and explained that this step would badly hit the ancillary and small industries. Moreover, the corporation was yet to classify fresh plastic raw material and recycled raw material separately. As a result, more than 250 plastic units which accounted for a consumption of 200 tonnes of plastic on a daily basis were charged a flat rate of 2 per cent octroi despite the fact that the recycled material was available at one third the rate of fresh raw material, Pawar observed.

Adding to the list of woes of the industrialists was the hike in the industrial fee by a whopping 200 to 300 per cent with a 10 per cent penalty per month for renewal. Local industrialists blamed the lack of coordination between the PCMC and MIDC for their grievances.

``PCMC is collecting property taxes from industries. Industries expect proper amenities in return. However, when we go to PCMC with our civic problems, they point a finger towards the MIDC,'' Subhash Joshi, chairman, Pimpri-Chinchwad wing, MCCIA, said. He cited a number of problems areas. Even as PCMC had already revised rates of property taxes on the basis of the cost of the building, no attention was being paid towards the maintenance of roads in MIDC area. PCMC had failed to remove encroachments alongside the roads again passing the buck to the MIDC, he revealed. Joshi said that while the PCMC health department was quite active in inspecting canteens run by medium and large industries, little attention was being paid to road-side canteens and small hotels.

Pawar felt that it was necessary for the government to provide for representation to the industry on civic bodies. In fact, there should be five representatives from industries on the PCMC body, who would be nominated by the chamber, he said.

The chamber was willing to wait for a couple of months before deciding the future plan of action. ``We first prefer to solve the issue through discussions and if this fails, we will compel them to listen to us,'' he said hinting at the possibility of an agitation.