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Indian Express
15-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Greater Bengaluru Authority to have 5 smaller corporations: Karnataka Dy CM Shivakumar
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar said Tuesday that the new Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) would have five city corporations under it. This comes ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Thursday where the subject is likely to be discussed, before the new corporations are notified by the government. 'We have formed the GBA. After this, we will definitely form five corporations,' he said in Bengaluru, speaking at a convention of implementation committees for the Congress government's various guarantee schemes. Shivakumar said elections would be held soon for the new bodies. There has been some opposition to dividing the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) into smaller bodies, but the split is essential to improve administration in the city, he added. This announcement comes a week after a final report on earmarking the GBA area and splitting it into smaller corporations was submitted to the government. Last week, Shivakumar said the GBA would have the same territorial jurisdiction as the BBMP, which governs an area of around 700 sq km in Bengaluru Urban district. The government has decided to include new areas under GBA in the future. The report submitted to the government discussed the pros and cons of splitting BBMP into three, four or five corporations. The GBA Act passed in the budget session of legislature in March this year provided for the formation of up to seven smaller corporations to improve governance in Bengaluru city. Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad, who headed a joint legislature committee on the GBA Act, had said that each of the smaller corporations was likely to have 80 to 100 corporators.
Indian Express
07-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Three, four or five? Karnataka to take final call on smaller corporations under Greater Bengaluru Authority
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) could be divided between three or five smaller city corporations and the new urban body for the city–for the time being–will govern the same area as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). A final report on earmarking the GBA area along with the pros and cons of having smaller corporations was submitted to Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, he said, 'For a time period, GBA limits will be the same as those of BBMP. We will include new areas in the future.' The subject will be taken up by the Cabinet soon so that elections for local bodies under the GBA are held as soon as possible, Shivakumar added. With the decision, the government has confined the GBA within the BBMP area of around 700 sq km. The exercise to determine the boundaries of the GBA was necessitated after the government passed the GBA Act in the budget session of the state legislature in March. The Act required the state government to earmark the GBA's borders by August this year. Congress MLC Rizwan Arshad, who headed a joint legislature committee that examined the GBA Bill, said that the government was yet to take a call on whether the number of smaller corporations should be three, four, or five. 'The report presented to the government discussed the pros and cons of all possibilities–from three to five corporations. Following this, the deputy chief minister and the home minister (G Parameshwara) have given some suggestions. A final decision will be taken by next week,' he said. Arshad said that each of the smaller corporations is likely to have 80 to 100 corporators. Though the last BBMP elections were held for 198 wards, a delimitation exercise carried out in 2023 increased the number to 225. However, the delimitation was rendered invalid following the passage of the GBA Act, which will require another round of delimitation exercise before polls are held.
Indian Express
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Proposal to include Tumakuru under Greater Bengaluru Authority soon: Karnataka Home Minister
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said Monday that a proposal will be submitted soon to the government to include Tumakuru under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). While speaking to reporters, Parameshwara pointed out that Tumakuru, which is around 70 km from Bengaluru, was growing rapidly. 'There is an industrial hub (at Tumakuru) in an area of 20,000 acre. Many are demanding that Tumakuru be expanded like Bengaluru. A study is being conducted on the issue,' he said. 'In the manner in which Ramanagar is renamed Bengaluru South, if Tumakuru is included in Greater Bengaluru, it will benefit us in terms of development. We will submit a proposal regarding the same,' Parameshwara, who is also in-charge minister for the Tumakuru district, said. The proposal came amidst demands to extend the Bengaluru Metro services to Tumakuru to boost connectivity between the two cities. The minister said the Karnataka government will take a call on extending Metro services to Tumakuru. 'Union Minister V Somanna has said that Tumakuru requires metro connectivity. Let there be both Metro and suburban rail connectivity,' he said. The Greater Bengaluru Authority was notified by the Karnataka Government last month after the GBA Act was passed in the Budget Session of the Assembly. The Act provided for the expansion of Bengaluru by including panchayats from areas neighbouring the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Multiple city corporations under GBA are also possible under the provisions of the Bill. Responding to a question on reports that he had asked for a change in portfolio, Parameshwara lashed out at media outlets for defaming him by publishing unverified reports. 'There were reports that I had asked for a change of portfolio with the chief minister (following the stampede at M Chinnaswamy stadium). Who told this to you (the media)? Please verify facts before publishing any news,' he said.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Civic groups question Greater Bengaluru Authority Act over centralisation concerns
Bengaluru: Taking objection to the haphazard manner in which the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has been rolled out, several civic activists are contemplating legal options to prevent what they call derailment and destruction of decentralised governance in the city. At a public discussion organised by CIVIC Bangalore here Saturday, activists said they plan to file a PIL plea in this regard. In the current form, GBA will weaken local decision-making and hamper effective civic administration in Bengaluru, they claimed. On the govt's justification that GBA had to be brought in as Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had failed in administering the city, CIVIC Bangalore executive trustee Kathyanai Chamaraj said: "BBMP did not fail because of internal inefficiency, it was was systematically undermined by the govt. " One of the major criticisms by experts is that the govt failed to expand Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC), a body meant to coordinate various parastatal agencies, and instead opted to create GBA, which took away crucial planning and financial powers from BBMP. This move will leave the city's smaller municipal corporations with limited authority and resources, forcing them to depend heavily on the state-controlled GBA for major projects and budgets, they said. Satyajit Arikutharam, mobility expert, spoke about the impact the bill will have on major mobility decisions: "BMLTA (Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority) Act is already in force — the problem isn't the absence of law, but the deliberate neglect of it. Mega projects like tunnel roads are being pushed through without scrutiny, undermining public transport goals and democratic oversight. We're seeing real estate interests take precedence over planning, and citizens are left paying the price. This isn't just bad governance, it is an erosion of accountability disguised as development." TR Raghunandan, former bureaucrat, said the GBA Act is being sold to people as a reform, but in reality, it's a dangerous centralisation of power. "It creates multiple urban populations without constitutional backing, ignoring the spirit of the 74th Amendment. There's no clarity on what local bodies actually do. It's all PowerPoint governance and not actual empowerment. The Act pretends to devolve power while concentrating it at the top. This is not local self-governance; it's a model of elected monarchies. If we are serious about democracy and functional devolution, we need real responsibilities at the local level, not ornamental laws that weaken it further."
Hans India
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
BBMP to be replaced with Greater Bengaluru Authority, says Siddaramaiah as bill comes into effect
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that the Governor Thawarchand Gehlot has given assent to the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, and it will come into effect on Thursday. 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.
