BENGALURU: As the state government contemplates splitting the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) into smaller corporations, citizen groups and urban experts have suggested that elections to the BBMP Council should be conducted first, followed by drafting a vision document by citizens outlining their aspirations for the city.
Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot recently gave his assent to the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, which allows BBMP to be split into a maximum of seven smaller corporations. Sources in the BBMP revealed that the Congress-led state government is inclined to split the BBMP into three corporations.
Citizen activist and Bengaluru Praja Vedike founder, N S Mukunda, said, “When H D Kumaraswamy was Chief Minister, he pushed for an elevated corridor. Now, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is aiming to bring a tunnel road to Bengaluru, despite public opposition.
The government now wants to slice the city into three corporations. Why can’t the people of Bengaluru decide what they want for their city, how it should be governed and how many corporations are needed to manage it?” He said half of the city’s problems stem from projects imposed on it.
Criticising the current form of proposed Greater Bengaluru Authority, he said it does not decentralise powers. “Every government wants to retain control and is unwilling to devolve powers,” he said.
Echoing similar concerns, Sandeep Anirudhan, Convenor of Citizens’ Agenda for Bengaluru / Bengaluru Town Hall, said, “Splitting Bengaluru into multiple corporations is a flawed idea by design. If we look at the Delhi experiment, it’s bound to fail. If the goal was devolution and better administration, it could have been achieved through the BBMP Act, 2020, by devolving powers to BBMP zones, ward committees, and area sabhas, and by improving transparency through IT solutions. .”
“If the government were truly interested in devolution, it would not have delayed the elections. Irrespective of which party is in power, the government has consistently found excuses to postpone elections. This shows mala fide intent. It’s clear that politicians are not interested in grassroots democracy. This entire exercise seems to be aimed at delaying or preventing it, thereby continuing state control over local bodies,” Anirudhan said.
He further stated that the Act is poorly drafted and ill-conceived. One of the primary concerns is that it violates multiple provisions of the Indian Constitution by perpetuating state control over local bodies, rendering governance non-representative and undemocratic. Both Mukunda and Anirudhan said the Act should be challenged in court, and many residents and civic groups are preparing for legal action.