Bengaluru civic revamp: All you need to know about five corporations under GBA

M Maheshwar Rao has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the GBA. He will be the administrator of the five city corporations until they each have an elected body

Bengaluru city is seeing a major change in its governance. The Karnataka government, on Tuesday, issued a notification to scrap the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and establish five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). Spread across 721 square kilometres, it is as big as the BBMP in terms of its jurisdiction.

As soon as the notification was issued, five new Commissioners were appointed. Orders were passed to ensure continuity in the system through the change as technical and non-technical staff were re-deployed by the government.

Division of five city corporations

The city's civic jurisdiction has been divided into five corporations that will individually govern Bengaluru Central, East, West, North, and South. Each of the corporations has a chief commissioner: Bengaluru Central – Rajendra Cholan P, Bengaluru East – Ramesh DS, Bengaluru West – Rajendra KV, Bengaluru North – Pommalai Sunil Kumar, and Bengaluru South – Ramesh KN.

The corporations have been formed under the provisions of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024. The number of wards per corporation cannot exceed 150. At the present, Bengaluru Central City Corporation has 42 wards, Bengaluru East City Corporation comprises 17 wards, Bengaluru West City Corporation has the maximum number of wards at 64, Bengaluru North City Corporation has 41 wards, and Bengaluru South City Corporation has 37 wards.

The government has formed a delimitation commission, consisting of four members, to decide the boundaries of the five corporations. They will consider revenue potential, population, geographical size, and employment activities, among other parameters. A deadline of three months has been set to complete the processes involved, as this is crucial for holding elections to the corporations.

M Maheshwar Rao has been named as the Chief Commissioner of the GBA. He will take on the role of the administrator of the five city corporations, when an elected body is not in place. With him, Special Commissioners have been posted. They are Munish Moudgil (Administration, Revenue and IT), Harish Kumar K (Finance), Suralkar Vikas Kishor (Health and Education), and Preeti Gehlot (forest, environment, climate change, elections, disaster management and coordination).

The GBA will have a three-tier governance structure, with the authority being at the pinnacle of the hierarchy. Under it, the five city corporations will function, and then the ward committees. The five city corporations will overlook the maintenance work, and the GBA will look into projects of larger size and nature.

Government clarifications

With the Karnataka government calling this a "historic" moment, they have ensured that the city corporations will function individually, and that the GBA will not impede their functioning. DK Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru City Development Minister, had spearheaded the the Greater Bengaluru Governance (Amendment) Bill in the Legislative Assembly, as the Opposition expressed concern of centralised power. "We’re making a small amendment to provide clarity that the GBA will not interfere with the city corporations," Shivakumar said.

Acknowledging the size and scale of the new change, the everyday services in the city are bound to be disrupted. In response to that, Maheshwar Rao responded, "We do not see much disruption to the existing arrangements. As works for the current financial year are already approved, individual corporations will not present a new budget, but they can pass a supplementary budget." In addition to that, the zonal, divisional, and sub-divisional structure and staff strengths are set for major revisions.

The name board at the civic body's head office has been replaced as Greater Bengaluru Authority, with a new logo in the works. The government has invited suggestions and recommendations from the public for the same. The opening ceremony for the offices of the five city corporations is scheduled for November 1, and Shivakumar said that the best design received for their architecture will be rewarded Rs 5 lakh.

Shivakumar has revealed that the switch to five city corporations will provide openings for 500 new leaders, as each ward will have a leader. "Every corporation can be divided into a maximum of 150 wards. If we consider that each corporation will have 100 wards on an average, this will make way to groom 500 new leaders. Of these, 50% will be women," he said, emphasising on equality.

Non-inclusion of urbanised villages

In light of the new development, urbanised villages were hoping to be brought under the GBA, as their underdeveloped roads are attracting much traffic and footfall, and local gram panchayats' inability to manage waste is leading to issues that affect living conditions on the city outskirts.

As many politicians have been demanding the inclusion of such villages in the GBA, residents are hopeful of it being met.

The existing services are said to continue. Though there may be service delivery delays, the five corporations will function independently until the their individual authorised budgets are finalised.

Bengaluru has become the second Indian metropolitan city to break away from the traditional model of a single municipal body. With the five corporations come into being, Bengaluru's functioning, management, and maintenance will be upheld by them as the city navigates through the change.