BENGALURU: Ring out the old, ring in the new. The state government on Wednesday issued a notification paving way for the creation of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), replacing the existing Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
The GBA will come into effect from Thursday. Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Urban Development Department, Tushar Girinath said from Thursday, the Greater Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Act will come into effect. He stressed that till the reconstitution of various corporations under the GBA is completed, there will not be much change in the functioning of the corporation.
“In the next step, the areas that come under the GBA will be notified. Once that is done, these areas will be further divided as per section 5 of the GBG Act to form corporations. As per the procedure, it will also include issuing notification and calling objections,” said Girinath.
To a question on the probable confusion for the city administration, the ACS said, “Till the time everything is finalised, the existing position of BBMP will continue to function as it was,” he said. The top official also said that there is a provision under section 7 (5) and section 360 of the GBG Act that specifies about the transition.
“All the functions in BBMP will continue till the time of reconstitution of GBA into various City Corporations and GBA kicks in within 120 days from the date of issue of notification,” the ACS said.
He added, “From May 15, we have four months to reconstitute various corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority and till that period, BBMP will continue as per the old rules under the BBMP and KMC Act as long as they are not in contravention to the new Act.”
Girinath added that once the exercise is complete, all other Acts like the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Act will cease to exist.
CM will be chairman of GBA, DCM vice-chairman
As per the provisions of the new Act, CM will be the chairman of the GBA and Deputy CM and Bengaluru District In-charge Minister will be the vice-chairman. It is expected that three to five corporations will be formed under the GBA, and an administrator will be the head of all these corporations, individually headed by commissioners.
Areas like Anekal, Sarjapura, Chandrapura, Hebbagodi, Kumbalagodu, Belathur, Madanayakanahalli and other outer areas which are under panchayat limits will also fall under GBA, said the sources.