BENGALURU: Three days after the government issued a gazette notification on the amendments to the Karnataka Municipalities Act, setting the stage for delimitation of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) wards, it has been decided that the civic body will now have 243 wards based on the population, against the present 198.
The chairman of the joint legislature committee on restructuring of BBMP, MLA S Raghu, told The New Indian Express that the decision was taken at a meeting with the Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department Additional Chief Secretary and the BBMP Commissioner on Tuesday.
He explained that the October 3 notification mentioned that the number of wards can be increased to anywhere between 225 and 250. “With the population size of each ward at 35,000, we arrived at the number 241. But, since the size of families can vary, it was decided that there will be 243 wards,” he said.
Separate Act for Bengaluru in the works
The government will issue final orders soon and the first meeting on the delimitation exercise will be held immediately after, he said. “It will be held mostly by Friday, and after this, the delimitation will be done by the BBMP on the basis of the population. The older order of ward reservation will also cease to exist and a revised list will be announced,” Raghu added.
Amendments to the KMC Act, to create a separate Bengaluru Municipal Act, is also under progress, he explained. The committee members are keen on completing the delimitation exercise and preparation of voters’ list by November 30, the time set by the High Court and the Election Commission, he pointed out.