BENGALURU:The decision of the state Cabinet to trifurcate the BBMP is likely to delay civic body elections.
While the BBMP Restructuring Committee has sought time till June-end to submit its report, the state government will need at least four more months for delimitation and other processes.
The term of the current council of the BBMP ends on April 22. Urban Development Department sources confirmed that it would take a minimum four months to conduct the elections. “The matter is before the High Court, and all depends on it,” an official said.
According to BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana, the number of wards and reservation will be decided by the state government. District Minister Ramalinga Reddy said the BS Patil Committee on BBMP division will submit its final report by June-end.
“Till then, we shall carry on with the delimitation process and ward reservation. Delimitation will be done based on 2011 population. The committee has recommended five to eight corporations, but we are restricting (it) to three,” he said.
When asked about loan repayment by the civic agency, he said it will be decided by the Cabinet. The loan will be divided based on the population and other criteria.
Three Tier Administration
Sources in Urban Development Department said the BBMP Restructuring Committee has recommended a three tier administration - ward committees at lower level, 12 corporations at the middle level and Greater Bengaluru Municipal Corporation at the higher level, under which these corporations along with other civic agencies shall function.
The annual plan related to each ward will be decided by the ward committee. While the corporations will deal with developing roads, garbage disposal, street light maintenance, tax collection and others. Each commissioner will be of IAS cadre.
At the higher level, there will be experts in town planning and others as nominated members. It will also have representation from smaller corporations. The mayor will be directly elected from people, sources said.
The committee has recommended 12 corporations, each with around 10 lakh population.
“Currently, there are 198 councillors and hardly 10 per cent of them will get chance to speak in a council meeting. Smaller the size of the corporation, more the chances of them speaking and expressing problems in their ward will be more,” sources said.
It will be easier for the Commissioner to deal with public on a small scale.
A Few Challenges
Loan: BBMP has taken loans by mortgaging various properties, including KR Market, Janayanagar Complex, Public Utility building, Dasappa Hospital. The question is who will repay the loans.
Staff: BBMP has a severe staff crunch and half of its employees are on deputation or on contract. Also, the state government, which has shortage of IAS officers, has to depute three officers as Commissioners.
Revenue: Revenue varies from one part to other. While Mahadevapura, KR Puram constituencies are expected to have more revenue due to IT-BT companies and high-rise buildings in the areas, core Bengaluru will not have this benifit.
