BENGALURU: If all goes as planned, the existing Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will become even more ‘bruhat’. There is a proposal before the State Government to include a few parts of Bengaluru Rural, especially the IT hubs, into BBMP limits. Meanwhile, the government is set to postpone BBMP elections, scheduled for September 2020.During the JDS-BJP coalition government in 2007, the then government had merged seven City Municipal Councils (CMC), one Town Municipal Council (TMC) and 111 villages into the then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. At present, 198 wards spread over 800 sqkm come under BBMP limits. The term of the council ends in September.
Meanwhile, the State government, citing ward delimitation and the new proposed separate act for Bengaluru, approached the High Court in March before the lockdown and sought time for BBMP polls till September. Last week, the government had issued the final gazette notification on the delimitation of wards coming under BBMP. The draft notification was issued in March 2020. As per the notification, the number of wards remain 198. Based on the 2011 Census, wards are carved out with a restriction of 42,000 to 48,000 people per ward. The wards in core Bengaluru has come down by two to three per assembly constituency, and the number of wards increased in the newly-added zones located on the outskirts.
A senior Urban Development Department official said that gazette notification is complete, and the plan for 198 wards with internal changes within the existing BBMP limits, has been approved. “There is a demand to include some parts of Bengaluru outskirts which fall under Bengaluru Rural district, including Anekal, Sarjapura and some parts outside Whitefield and Mahadevapura, which have IT pockets,” he said.
The State government had brought in a separate bill for Bengaluru in the assembly session in March, but it was not passed. It was referred to the Joint House Committee, but due to the lockdown, the committee could not meet. In the draft bill, the number of wards is 225. “Once the committee discusses the issue, we can get some clarity. The number of wards is 225 and the government plans to add some more on the outskirts,’’ the official said. Meanwhile, the State government is likely to postpone BBMP elections due to the ongoing pandemic.