Latest news with #GreaterBengaluruAuthority
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Bengaluru civic polls unlikely this year; govt to file affidavit in SC
Bengaluru: Long-delayed civic elections for Bengaluru city are unlikely to be held this year, with govt officials conceding that key formalities mandated under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act (GBG Act), 2024, may not be completed in time. Civic agency polls, overdue since Sept 2020, are now set to be pushed into 2026 owing to the complex exercise of dividing the city into five new municipal corporations and creating fresh ward boundaries. The state govt, in its submission to the Supreme Court Monday, said it needs time till Nov 1 to complete delimitation and formation of new wards in accordance with the GBG Act. The court, which scheduled the next hearing for Aug 4, has directed the govt to file an affidavit confirming its timeline commitment by then. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru "Our govt is keen on ensuring civic polls at the earliest, with the formation of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which is for the greater good of the city," said deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar , who holds the Bengaluru development portfolio. "The decision on formation of GBA has been taken keeping in mind geographical, administrative and economic aspects. As far as civic elections are concerned, we will submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court very soon." However, officials privately admit that even an early 2026 timeline is optimistic. The govt must finalise a reservation matrix for newly created wards after completing the delimitation of each of the five proposed corporations. Only then can the State Election Commission (SEC) begin work on electoral rolls. "We have told the Supreme Court that we need three months to finalise electoral rolls," said GS Sangreshi, state election commissioner. "We will begin the exercise soon after the govt completes the delimitation exercise for new wards. While the govt is committed to completing it by Nov, we expect it to file the affidavit accordingly. If it fails to keep this deadline, then we will think about filing a contempt suit against it in the apex court. " On July 18, the govt issued a draft notification to create five city corporations. Citizens have been invited to file objections or suggestions before Aug 18. Officials said the urban development department will vet these responses till Sept 2, following which final notification will be issued. Each corporation will have 90 wards, with an average population of 30,000 per ward. Despite the tight timelines, Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad, who headed a legislature committee on the GBG Bill, remains hopeful: "The govt has decided to work on a warfooting to complete all pending procedures before Nov. We will request the election commission to hold the polls by Dec. It is a herculean task, but I think it can be achieved."
Indian Express
16 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Delimitation for five new Bengaluru city corporations from September 3: D K Shivakumar
Following the formation of five city corporations under Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), the Karnataka Government will start the delimitation process for various wards from September 3, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar said Tuesday. The decision came in the wake of a draft notification issued by the Government a week ago, dividing the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) area into five smaller corporations as per the provisions of the GBA Act. The Act was passed in the budget session of the state legislature earlier this year. Addressing a news conference, Shivakumar said that the delimitation process would start from September 3. 'On November 1, 2025, a final notification on ward delimitation will be issued. Reservation (for various wards) will also be completed by then,' he said. The delimitation will pave the way for elections to be held for the five corporations — Bengaluru North City Corporation, Bengaluru South City Corporation, Bengaluru Central City Corporation, Bengaluru East City Corporation, and Bengaluru West City Corporation. 'This will be a time-bound programme,' Shivakumar said, adding that an affidavit would be submitted to court over holding elections for these bodies. The Government will also issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) detailing the modalities for converting B-khata to A-khata on August 15. The Government, in a Cabinet meeting held July 16, approved issuing A-khata (a perfect certificate for a property) for those who had B-khata certificates (properties that had some lacunae). The SOP will list out eligibility criteria to convert B-khata to A-khata, the revenue documents required for the process and other parameters, Shivakumar said. There are 24 lakh A-khata and B-khata properties in the BBMP area.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
A, B-Khata regulations get stamp under Great Bengaluru Governance Act
BENGALURU: The State government on Friday issued an order, approving regulations for issuing A- and B-Khata for properties under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Once BBMP ceases to exist and Great Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Act comes into effect, properties constructed after September 30, 2024, will not be given B-Khata. The move aims to bring nearly 6 lakh properties under the Greater Bengaluru Authority/BBMP tax ambit. The order empowers the administration to even declare a private road connecting vacant land as 'public land', under Section 212 of the GBG Act. The order also makes it clear that any property on land under Revenue Survey Number/Hissa Survey and yet to be converted for non-agricultural purpose, may not require the Deputy Commissioner's approval, provided the land falls under the Revised Master Plan for Bengaluru. The fee for conversion is to be paid to the authority. After conversion, vacant land under Karnataka Country and Town Planning Act (KCTP), 1961, can be treated as a single plot/layout and the sites given A-Khata as per GBG Act. After relevant approval under Section 17 and 15 of the KCTP Act, owners can seek building plan approvals, commencement certificates and occupancy certificates. The order states that properties which already have B-Khata will have to follow the same rules. However, if there is any violation, they cannot go ahead with construction.
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
High court orders notice to Karnataka government on Greater Bengaluru validity
Bengaluru: The high court on Monday ordered issuance of notice to the state govt, BBMP, and State Election Commission on a PIL petition challenging the constitutional validity of Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bhakru and Justice CM Joshi directed the respondents to submit responses by the next date of hearing. Appearing for petitioners, senior advocate MB Nargund submitted that elections to BBMP were last held in August 2015. According to him, the Greater Bengaluru Governance Authority violates the 74th amendment to the Constitution on strengthening municipal bodies. The petitioners cited the Supreme Court's decision in the Kishan Singh Tomar case, where it specified that State Election Commissions are required to conduct time-bound polls. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru The PIL was jointly filed by film director TS Nagabharana, former BBMP corporator G Manjunatha Raju and GS Renuka Prasad, chairman of Shanthinagar Residents' Welfare Association. The Greater Bengaluru Authority, created through an Act, is an apparatus which will enable the state govt "to intrude into" the local govt's administration and functioning "without holding elections", the petitioners said, in a reference to the non-conduct of elections to the BBMP for the past five years. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like ACE Nest: Book with ₹5 Lacs – Studio & 1 BHK Near YEIDA Ace Noida Book Now Undo The petitioners contended that the authority's establishment is unconstitutional as its functions are almost the same as a municipality's. "Further, Section 15 of the Act confers the responsibility of formulation and execution of major projects, and for that purpose, it can even borrow money as per Section 23 of the Act," the petitioners said. The petitioners stated that the Greater Bengaluru Authority is not a municipality or municipal corporation as per Article 243Q of the Constitution of India. Hence, this takes away the principle of decentralisation as enshrined in the constitutional amendment. "Under the Constitution, the Metropolitan Planning Committee will prepare a draft development plan for the metropolitan area and forward the plan to the state govt. As the CM himself is the head of Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Authority is responsible for planning, the separation of roles is completely removed by the Act," the petitioners said.
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Urban experts call for expansion of civic limits to include urbanised villages
While there has been general concurrence among urban planners and experts on the way the city's civic limits have been divided into five corporations , many argue that the municipal limits should have been expanded to include areas beyond today's civic limits that are urbanised. 'We seem to be trying to solve yesterday's problem and not tomorrow's. We are confronting this problem because we did not anticipate this years ago. We still do not seem to be addressing a ground reality that most of the new migrants into the city are settling outside the civic limits, urbanising those areas,' said urban expert Ashwin Mahesh, arguing for four more corporations beyond the civic limits, all to be brought under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). GBA has been notified to be the BBMP area only, with a promise to be expanded at a later stage. Initially, there was a proposal to include at least 25 urbanised villages beyond the civic limits in the GBA. However, that was put on hold. Sources said while GBA will be expanded, areas beyond the civic limits may be municipalised or kept under zilla panchayats and their representatives be given a seat at the GBA. Given the disparity in revenue generation capacity of the five corporations and the role of the Chief Minister-led GBA to bring in a balance through State grants, N.S. Mukunda of Bengaluru Praja Vedike, said that there was a need to develop a comprehensive ward development index which becomes an impartial and transparent yardstick to allocate funds. 'A corporation that may need money may elect an opposition party to that in power in the State, and this can create a situation where that corporation may be starved of funds and development. We should ideally avoid such situations. If an impartial development index becomes the yardstick, we can hope to achieve some balance over the next few years,' he said. Mr. Mahesh also said that given the wide disparity in area and population of these corporations, delimitation of wards will end up with unequal wards, a problem that already plagues the city. He said each corporation should be allowed to have its own delimitation exercise to ensure equal representation within that corporation. However, others oppose this argument. 'According to the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, each corporation can have a maximum of 150 wards. To bring parity in the larger GBA area, we can ensure a corporation with a smaller population will have a lesser number of wards and those with a larger population more wards,' an official said.
