After a delay of more than two years, the election for two vacant posts of elected representatives in the Bangalore Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC) is finally being held on Thursday.
Though the BMPC was constituted in September 2014, the planning body has elected only 18 members from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The two other members are to be elected from among the presidents, vice-presidents of the Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat, four taluk panchayats, and 59 gram panchayats coming under the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) limits. The election will be conducted by the Regional Commissioner at the Bangalore Urban Zilla Pancahayat.
Currently, the planning area for BMPC is around 1,300 sq km that come under the BDA. During the previous meeting, it was proposed to extend the planning area to around 8,000 sq km that are covered under the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Area. According to one of the elected members, another meeting is likely to be scheduled after May 21 to discuss this issue.
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BMPC has come under flak for not holding meetings regularly. According to the rules, the planning body has to meet every three months or as often as necessary. However, since it was constituted, only two meetings have been held.