RAWALPINDI - Ex-members of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) demanded of the government to hold local bodies elections in the cantonment areas and warned that they would go on agitation to part civilian population from the Cantonment territory if their demand was not met. Addressing a press conference at Rawalpindi Islamabad Press Club (RIPC) here Friday, RCB former vice president Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Malik said the affairs of the cantonment board were being run without peoples participation and the administration was also imposing new taxes without public consultation. A large number of former members of RCB including Raja Jahandad, Haji Zafar Iqbal and Anjuman-e-Tajran Cannt (ATC) President Zafar Qadri and Malik Abdul Samad were also present on the occasion. Coming down hard on RCB administration for increasing fees and taxes, he said it would create problems for people of cantonment, who paid taxes and fees and in return got nothing. The affairs of cantonment board have been run on interim basis for the last 10 years due to the absence of public representation, RCB former office-bearer said, adding that according to Cantonment Act, the current set-up would not impose new taxes or increase the fees. Sharing the details with media men, Hafiz Hussain said that the RCB had increased the fee for new water connection from Rs 2200 to Rs 4850, application forms from Rs20 to Rs200 and increased the water charges to 35 per cent. The administration is not taking serious steps to improve their recovery system and imposing new taxes and increased the fees. The water shortage became an order of the day, he added. If the government failed in holding elections, he said, than the members would launch a series of protests to separate the civilian areas from the administration of RCB. Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) would be allowed to take administrative control of civilian population areas. RCB former vice president Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Malik urged the federal government to hold audit of RCBs accounts for last ten years and take serious notice of corruption in the civic body. The report of this audit should also be publicised, he stressed.