HOW BMP BECAME BRUHAT

HOW BMP BECAME BRUHAT
Just After The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Council Was Dissolved, BBMP Was Formed. TOI Traces The Corporation’s Journey So Far
Prashanth G N | TNN

Bangalore: Election to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike will be held at long last. Some time in April-May, citizens hope to see an elected civic body running the affairs of the city, something which has not been happening since November 2006.
The election on March 28 comes after sundry delays over Bangalore’s ward formation and reservation, and negotiations with the court over three years since January 2007.
While the earlier Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) council was dissolved on November 23, 2006, fresh election was postponed by the government citing formation of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. Technically speaking, it was in January 2007 that the BBMP was formed. The government issued a notification on January 16, 2007, merging the 100 wards under BMP with seven city municipal councils (CMCs), one town municipal council (TMC) and 111 villages around the city to form a single administrative body, a process completed by April 2007.
The H D Kumaraswamy government had proposed 147 wards for the new BBMP in 2007; however, the amendment was never passed as the government fell.
The Yeddyurappa government then increased the wards to 198 in 2009 through an amendment to Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, 1976.
The new amendment stipulated that the maximum number of wards under BBMP’s jurisdiction could be raised to 200. The government increased the number of wards from 100 to 198 to cover a vast and growing Bangalore, which was crying for civic attention. The new areas included 7 CMCs (Rajarajeshwari, Dasarahalli, Bommanahalli, Krishnarajapuram, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura and Yelahanka), 1 TMC (Kengeri) and 111 villages around Bangalore.
BBMP COUNCIL
Now, Greater Bangalore will be represented by a political class almost as strong as the assembly. Apart from the 198 corporators, the council takes in 20 nominated corporators, 27 MLAs, 11 MLCs and some MPs, which add up to 268 members. All members of the council have voting rights.
BBMP AREA SPREAD
Greater Bangalore, spread over roughly 800 sqkm, has a majority of smaller residential extensions as fullfledged wards. A large number of areas that come under the newly added seven CMCs, one TMC and 110 villages have been converted into wards, which are situated on the city’s periphery. It also covers 28 assembly constituencies in all.
POPULATION ANGLE
The 28 assembly segments of Bangalore will have wards ranging from one to nine per constituency. Earlier, each constituted a population of 40,000, but now it will cater to 30,000 in core areas and 20,000 in other areas.
The 2001 census was the basis of the del i m i t at i o n process. A ward has an average population of 30,000 (plus or minus 20%) in the core areas; wards in newly added peripheral areas have a minimum population of 20,000.
The BBMP, responsible for civic and infrastructural requirements of 6.8 million citizens, works in conjunction with other civic bodies such as the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development Task Force (ABIDe) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
BBMP is India’s fourth largest municipal corporation after the city corporations that administer Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. The current commissioner is Bharat Lal Meena, senior IAS officer.
CIVIC HISTORY
The history of Bangalore’s municipal governance dates back to March 27, 1862, when nine citizens formed a municipal board under the Improvement of Towns Act, 1850. Later, a similar board was formed in the Cantonment area. The two boards were legalized in 1881, and functioned as two independent bodies — Bangalore City Municipality and Bangalore Civil and Military Station Municipality. The following year, the concept of elected representatives came into being and also saw the introduction of property tax.
After Independence, the two municipal boards were merged to form the Corporation of the City of Bangalore in 1949, under the Bangalore City Corporation Act. The corporation then consisted of 70 elected representatives and 50 electoral divisions. The council’s name changed to Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) and to Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP). The
Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike or Greater
Bangalore came up in 2007.
BBMP GENESIS
BBMP was formed from the BMP through notification under the H D Kumaraswamy government on January 16, 2007
BBMP has 198 wards, increased from 100 by the B S Yeddyurappa government in 2009 through an amendment to KMC Act, 1976. BBMP covers approximately 800 sqkm
Elections to BBMP being held three years after it was formed
The previous council, known as BMP, was dissolved on November 23, 2006
BMP was earlier known as Bangalore City Corporation (BCC), which was established in 1949