Karnataka: Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, to govern city from May 15
The Urban Development Department (UDD) has notified that the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, will come into effect from May 15, Wednesday.
With this notification, the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, will replace Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, 2020, to govern the city administration. However, little will change immediately on the ground, and the transition to the new system will be gradual, through successive government orders, sources in the UDD said.
Until the boundaries of multiple corporations, said to be three, are drawn up and notified by the State government, BBMP will continue to work under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which is expected to be constituted soon. The GBG Act, 2024, allows for a single corporation as well.
The new law provides for multiple corporations (1 to 7 corporations, each with up to 150 wards) and a pan-city level GBA led by the Chief Minister to coordinate between multiple corporations and all the parastatals in the city. 'As an immediate step, the State government has to now constitute a GBA under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister and appoint an administrator to the authority, who will have to oversee the transition,' a senior official said. As per the sources, the Additional Chief Secretary, UDD, is likely to be appointed Administrator, GBA.
While the Joint Legislature Committee and the Brand Bengaluru Committee have recommended expanding the footprint of GBA to include around 25 urbanised villages beyond the existing civic limits, initially, GBA is expected to come into force with the same existing civic limits of 709 sq. km, sources said.
Parastatals on one platform
This will be the first time that the various parastatals in the city, like Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML), Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE) and even Bengaluru City Police, among others, will come on one single platform with the civic administration in the GBA. This is expected to provide holistic planning and a coordinated approach to the city administration.
However, there are legal steps to be taken to amend the memorandum of associations of the companies and the laws governing some of these parastatals like the BDA and BWSSB to specify that they will henceforth be answerable to the GBA. Without these amendments, GBA will also be toothless, sources said.
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