BBMP to be replaced with Greater Bengaluru Authority, says Siddaramaiah as bill comes into effect
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be replaced with the newly formed Greater Bengaluru Authority, said the Chief Minister while speaking to the media at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
The Greater Bengaluru Bill has been passed in both the Houses of the state legislature, he added.
"Bengaluru will be known as Greater Bengaluru now. There is a possibility of forming at least three corporations within the Greater Bengaluru region. The Chief Minister will serve as the chairperson of the authority, and appropriate decisions will be taken in the coming days," Siddaramaiah said.
The Karnataka Government had officially notified the formation of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) on Tuesday, marking the end of the BBMP as the city's governing body. The state government has announced that the land coming under the BBMP has been notified as the land which will come under the GBA as per Section 1 (2) of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024.
Until the procedures are done, the concerned officers will carry out powers and responsibilities in the BBMP. The Urban Development department has stated that an administrator would be appointed following the BBMP ceasing to exist. Once the administrator is appointed, the rules and guidelines will be formed.
As per the GBA Act, the Authority under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister will have to be formed within 120 days. The Bengaluru Development Minister will be the Vice President. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is in-charge of the Bengaluru Development portfolio.
The legislators, ministers from Bengaluru, mayors of corporations, Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner, Bengaluru Water and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) President, Managing Directors of Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will be members.
The Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District, Bengaluru Police Commissioner and others would also be members.
Sources said that the government wants to create three city corporations with 125 wards each, and boundaries will be identified. As per the act, all the regions coming under the GBA will be called as Bengaluru region.
The Congress government in Karnataka on June 23, 2024, tabled the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024, in the Assembly, which proposes to split the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) into many city corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area.
The government maintained that the Bill has been moved with the objective of effective, participatory, and responsive urban governance in the Greater Bengaluru Area. It also proposes to establish a Greater Bengaluru Authority for coordinating and supervising the development of the Greater Bengaluru Area.
'The provisions of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Act, 2020 (Act 53 of 2020) are inadequate to govern Bengaluru as they don't constitute any institutions that can address the fragmentation of governance in Bengaluru due to the multiplicity of civic agencies and lack of coordination between them,' the act states.
The BJP and JD (S) are opposed to the implementation of the act. The BJP has staged a protest and called the move unconstitutional as it contradicts the 74th Constitutional Amendment. A representation was also made to the Governor in this regard.
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