Don’t split BBMP in unseemly haste

The Congress government in Karnataka has indicated that it might split the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) into smaller bodies to improve administrative efficiency. Bengaluru, which had only 50 wards when an elected body first came into existence in 1949, now has 243.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) jurisdiction extends to nearly 800 sq km. The city’s population, according to the United Nations World Population Review, has gone up from 7.5 lakh in 1950 to 1.3 crore at present, and is estimated to touch 1.8 crore in 2030.  Though Bengaluru has emerged as the information technology capital of India and may have many other such feathers in its cap, the BBMP has fallen woefully short when it comes to creating a world class city. The ruling Congress and the principal opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are divided on how to address this problem.

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During its previous term in office (2013-18), the Congress government had set up a committee under former chief secretary B S Patil to restructure the BBMP. The panel had recommended that the government carve out 400 wards and set up a three-tier system of governance for the city, with five small municipalities with their own mayors reporting to a Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) which would have a directly elected mayor. It also proposed to bring Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Committee and BWSSB under GBA. The legislature then passed a Bill trifurcating the BBMP.

The move was opposed by the BJP, and ultimately nixed by the Centre. In 2020, the BJP government brought in a new Act empowering zonal committees to ensure decentralisation of administration. The zones are now headed by a commissioner reporting to the BBMP chief commissioner. In 2022, the government issued a notification increasing the number of wards to 243. The current government has once again revived the B S Patil committee, tasked with reimagining the city’s governance.

The BJP claims the government is trying to replicate the Delhi model of splitting the corporation, which it says has failed. The Patil report has some positive points—it has proposed that the smaller municipal bodies report to the GBA which will facilitate both integrated development and decentralisation. This is an improvement on the Delhi model. The proposal to bring various civic bodies under one umbrella will also ensure better cohesion. Bengaluru has become unwieldy. No doubt the problem needs to be addressed, but the government should not act in a hurry. Instead, it should hold detailed consultations with all stakeholders and arrive at a long-term solution. All said and done, the solution should not turn out to be worse than the problem.