BENGALURU: Starting May 15, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be a thing of the past. It will now be Greater Bengaluru Authority, as the cabinet on Friday gave the nod to issue a notification on May 15.
The next course, including splitting of the existing area to three or more municipal corporations and delimitation and reservation of wards, will be decided in the coming days. This also means that the elections to the city corporation will not be held anytime soon.
Government sources said the recent appointment of senior IAS officer Maheshwar Rao as interim BBMP chief commissioner was part of the plan to split the corporation. The government will now form a committee, which will study and decide on the delimitation of municipal corporations and wards. After that, it will work on reservation of each ward.
The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act 2025 specifies that the CM will head GBA, while the Bengaluru development minister will be the vice-chairperson. Managing directors or commissioners of BMTC, BWSSB, Bescom and other agencies associated with Bengaluru will be its members. The Act provides for fixing the term of the mayor and deputy Mayor to 2.5 years.
‘Next process on GBA in coming days’
The BBMP was formed in 2007 and the local polls were held in 2010. After which there have been only two terms of the BBMP Council. No elections have been held since September 2020 and the state’s capital is being governed by the chief commissioner and BBMP administrator, both appointed by the government.
Law Minister HK Patil told the media that Friday’s cabinet meeting decided to implement the Greater Bengaluru Act as it has been passed by both Houses and the governor has given the approval. The next process will be taken up in the coming days, he added.
The newly created corporations will have powers to impose tax and service charge on buildings and sites, entertainment tax, advertisement fees, tax on professions and trades and cesses on solid waste management, infrastructure, urban land transport, and others.