25 'developed panchayats' may join new Bengaluru corporations

Bengaluru: Around 25 panchayats, exhibiting urban characteristics, are expected to be incorporated into new municipal corporations as a part of the state government's plan to restructure the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The IT capital may be divided into four or five independent corporations, which will report to a central body known as the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).

In the last six months, the joint scrutiny committee of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly has reviewed the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill 2024 by consulting legal experts, citizen groups and the public. On Monday, the committee, led by Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad, submitted its report to Speaker UT Khader. The bill is expected to be presented during the upcoming budget session.

The report has retained the original plan of constituting the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) as an apex body responsible for coordinating between various agencies and corporations while also overseeing urban planning. The GBA will be headed by the chief minister and will include an executive committee, largely composed of ruling party members and the mayors of the new corporations. All Bengaluru MLAs will be special invitees.

The committee has recommended establishing between two and seven smaller corporations to replace the BBMP, with expanded jurisdiction of about 200 sq km. It is likely that the government will create five corporations, dividing Bengaluru into eastern, western, southern and northern zones while maintaining the limits of the erstwhile Bengaluru Municipal Corporation (BMC).

A positive update from the committee’s findings is the decision to abandon the original proposal to centralise property tax collection and redistribute it to the corporations. The revised approach allows each municipality to operate independently, with full control over the collection and allocation of property taxes. This was also the demand of people in Mahadevapura which generated the highest property tax but received less allocations.

MLA Arshad explained that the committee advised the government to define new corporation boundaries based on factors like population density and historical property tax contributions. "The corporations will have full authority over property tax collection, in line with the 74th Amendment. The GBA’s role will primarily focus on coordination, recruitment and local planning," he told DH.

The committee, he said, has also recommended including panchayats in growing areas, such as those near Electronics City and the airport. "As the GBA will take on responsibilities typically handled by the urban development department, it will hold a significant authority in many grey areas," Arshad added.