As a preparation for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections in August 2020 and in keeping with the Supreme Court and Election Commission guidelines, the civic body has embarked on restructuring wards.
The move, according to the officials, comes after a gap of 10 years.
The BBMP, which held a brief meeting with Urban Development Department officials on Wednesday, has now come up with a draft on redrawing the boundaries of various wards based on population. While the existing wards were drawn on the basis of the 2001 Census, the latest draft is based on the 2011 census. Confirming the move, BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said this comes following the proposal to reorganise the city’s wards for the ensuing Palike polls.
According to the draft map of ward delimitation accessed by DH, the outer areas of Bengaluru have taken over the core areas of Bengaluru in accommodating the growing population. “The population of Bengaluru has witnessed a surge in as many as 10 constituencies and all of them fall in outer Bengaluru. Wards under these constituencies will have to be redrawn based on the population size of about 42,000 to 45,000,” Prasad explained. The BBMP has drawn a rough draft with two proposals.
Overall, Bengaluru has witnessed a 44.57% increase in population during 2011 compared to the 2001 census. “While the core area population rose by only 17%, the outer areas have seen a whopping 116% increase in population,” an official stated. The BBMP has proposed an average population of 42,000 per ward which is likely to vary between 37,000 and 47,000, depending on the density.
The new draft, while retaining the number of wards in a few constituencies, has proposed to increase or decrease the number of wards. However, there will be no change in the total number of wards which will remain 198. Assembly constituencies like K R Puram (9 wards), Byatarayanapura (7), Yeshwantapur (5), R R Nagar (9), Dasarahalli (8), Mahadevapura (8) Bommanahalli (8) and Bangalore South (7) will have two news wards each introduced by adjusting the boundaries.
On the other hand, Assembly constituencies like Malleswaram (7 wards), Hebbal (7), Pulikeshinagar (7), Shantinagar (7), Gandhinagar (7), Chamarajpet (7), Chickpet (7), Padmanabhanagar (8) and BTM Layout (8) will lose one ward by merging with one of its wards.
Bigger areas like Shivajinagar (7 wards), Rajajinagar (7), Govindarajanagar (9) and Jayanagar (7) will lose two wards respectively. However, constituencies like Yelahanka (4 wards), Mahalakshmi Layout (7) C V Raman Nagar (7) Vijayanagar 8) and Basavanagudi (6) will have no changes in the ward count.
The entire process, according to the BBMP commissioner, involves consultation with corporators and MLAs and public objections before the final notification is issued. The entire process is likely to be completed by October, according to BBMP Officials.