Bengaluru
Two days after the State government reduced the number of Bengaluru’s wards from 243 to 225, the Urban Development Department (UDD) issued fresh guidelines to demarcate ward boundaries for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
The rules formed under BBMP Act 2020 have mandated the delimitation committee to conduct the exercise based on the 2011 population survey. The previous delimitation was also done on the same basis. The UDD has formed eight guidelines.
The guidelines say that every ward boundary should be fixed under Assembly constituencies and wards should not be divided between two segments represented by elected representatives. This means a ward is attached to one Assembly segment and not more than that.
During the delimitation process, the ward should be compact and the committee must consider geographical features, means of communication, and public convenience during redistribution of wards.
The committee must ensure the areas in the ward should not expand to other wards. The areas falling in hilly areas, complex geographies, valleys and others should be demarcated prioritising public convenience. The ward should be formed in such a way that the people should have easy access to ward offices and other facilities.
The geographies of specific features like slum areas, specific road models and others should entirely come under a single ward and should not be divided in view of convenience.
A deviation of 15% of average population of wards is acceptable, if the geographical features, means of communication, public convenience, continuity of the areas and necessity to avoid breaking up of administrative units, the guidelines say.
After demarcation, the draft of delimitation should be published for consumption of the public and to invite objections from the people in written format, the guidelines said.
