Ward delimitation move generates heat

Sanjay R. Murty | NT
Bengaluru

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s ward delimitation notification, released on June 23, has evoked objections from residents and organisations of the city. The suggestions and objections were to be submitted either physically or by post to the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department by Thursday.

Several Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) objected to the proposed delimitation citing various reasons. Swethadri from Kumara Park RWA told News Trail that the locality had been divided between two wards even in the previous delimitation.

“We had been requesting the authorities to look into the matter and see to it that Kumara Park is under one ward or at least one zone. We have filed the same objection this time too,” he said. Swethadri, however, added that their requests had fallen on deaf ears.

The Kumara Park locality is split between the Gandhinagar and Vasanthnagar wards. The wards belong to the West and East zones of the BBMP, respectively.

Faults in the Committee

Activists from Namma Bengaluru Foundation have flagged several issues with the delimitation process. The foundation said the delimitation committee should have been headed by a serving/retired Supreme Court Judge.

Presently, the committee only has bureaucrats and no representation from the State Election Commission. Delimitation was carried out on the basis of 2011 Census data, haphazard splitting up of layouts and lack of a uniform population density among the wards are some other issues indicated by the foundation. It has also suggested the setting up of a permanent Delimitation Commission with BBMP, State Election Commission and Census representatives.

Deliberate delay

Meanwhile, several RWA leaders also felt that the process is being delayed on purpose. The President of an RWA in central Bengaluru said that the MLAs want contenders from their parties to work under them for as long as possible.“The MLAs get the aspirants for the corporator’s post to campaign for them in assembly election. If the BBMP elections are held, there will only be one corporator, while others might turn into dissidents,” he said.