BMP may have 30 more wards

BMP may have 30 more wards

Deccan Herald

`Discrepancies' to be removed during delimitation


BANGALORE: With the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) going to polls this November, the State Government is gearing to complete delimitation of wards in the city.

The existing 100 wards will be reorganised based on the population and over 30 more wards are likely to be created. The last delimitation was done in 1996 and the Government is bound to complete the process before June this year.

The BMP sources told The Hindu on Friday that the ceiling on the number of voters in each ward is likely to be pegged at 30,000. "Although this was the prescribed limit last time, it changed according to the whims and fancies of influential politicians. That's why we have some wards with an electorate of over one lakh and some with a mere 13,000," the sources said.

"The process has to be completed before June. The Government has to announce the new wards, allow time for public to file objections and incorporate the suggestions before the BMP polls are notified," the sources said.

The Government is "seriously considering" a proposal to bring the six City Municipal Councils (CMCs) and one Town Municipal Council (TMC) on the outskirts of the city under the BMP. But that is a different process and has nothing to do with delimitation.

In 1996, the Government added 27 new wards to the existing 73 then. But several discrepancies in the bifurcation came to the fore.

While wards on the outskirts have a large number of voters, those in the central areas have a small electorate. Besides, some localities are included in wards that are five to six km away from the area.

Sampangiramnagar (ward 77) is an example of this. "Kumara Park West, which is included in this ward is five km away from Sampangiramanagar and the problems and needs of the two are wide apart. Earlier, Kumara Park West was part of High Grounds division and it should have been the same," an old resident of this area said.

"A ward should be a cluster of localities and not a group of scattered localities. If this norm is not followed, it will cause inconvenience to both the residents and the civic body," Latha Jayaram, another resident said.

Besides, the population of the city has increased by several lakhs in the last few years. The population (as recorded in 2001 Census) was 42.92 lakhs when the BMP polls were conducted on November 11, 2001. It has now crossed 65 lakhs. "It is obvious that there is an unequal distribution of voters in the wards. This has to be set right," the former Mayor M. Ramchandrappa said.

He said the BMP allocates development funds to all wards irrespective of their size and population. "That's why small wards are more developed than large wards. This disparity can be redressed after the delimitation," he added.