Greater Bengaluru Authority is born: 5 corporations to govern city; heads named

Bengaluru: It’s official. Bengaluru has become only the second Indian metropolitan city to break away from the traditional model of a single municipal body. The city will now be administered by multiple corporations. On top of this, a newly formed umbrella agency —the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA)—will play the role of a coordinator.

New Delhi had experimented with twin corporations in the past, but has reverted to a single body now.

Effecting the “historic” decision, the state government on Tuesday passed a final notification for establishing five city corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area, which is spread across 721 square kilometres, including Kudlu in Anekal. It will be as big as the now-scrapped Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). 

Moments after the notification was issued, the government appointed new commissioners to the newly-carved corporations and posted five senior IAS officers to the GBA. It also passed a series of orders for re-deploying technical and non-technical staff to ensure continuity in the system. 

For now, day-to-day life for citizens is unlikely to change much. The five corporations will function independently but continue existing services until individual budgets are presented.

There may be some disruption in delivery of services, slow-down in infrastructure works and delay in grievance redressal given that a lot of manpower will be dedicated to drawing new boundaries for the wards, preparing electoral rolls and confusion over their new roles etc. 

According to the notification, each corporation comprises anywhere between two and 10 Assembly constituencies while the wards range from 17 to 64.

In simple terms, the five corporations are likely to focus on maintenance work given the limited resources, while the GBA will undertake large projects. 

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar hinted that there could be as many as 500 councillors with each corporation having 100 wards. This could be a blessing in disguise for aspiring leaders who want to test the political waters which are already muddied. Some however believe the government has dug a mountain but it may not even find a mouse. 

There was hope that the developed panchayat limits – which are in the peripheral areas – will be included in the GBA but the government has not extended the limits yet. Sources said that as and when the panchayats complete their term, they would be included in the GBA through a notification. 

Interestingly, Opposition leaders have remained silent on the move, though they had previously walked out of the Assembly during the passage of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act — the legislation that laid the groundwork for this restructuring.

City to get 500 new leaders

DKS Hailing the constitution of the Greater Bengaluru Authority as a historic move Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said this would give rise to 500 new leaders in the city hinting that the city could be divided into close to 500 wards. 

Panel to draw ward boundaries

The state government has formed a four-member delimitation commission to draw ward boundaries of the newly-carved corporations which come under the Greater Bengaluru Area. The government has set a three-month deadline to complete the task. The exercise is crucial to hold elections to the five municipal corporations.