The State government will study the London city-region model before deciding whether the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be restructured into multiple corporations. London has 32 boroughs, the equivalent of corporations here, each led by a mayor while the city-region elects a mayor who heads Greater London.
This comes after the BBMP Restructuring Committee made a detailed presentation of their recommendations to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Dy. CM Dr. G. Parameshwara on Thursday. The tenure of the committee ends on June 30.
It has proposed a three-tier governance structure, with multiple corporations each lead by a mayor-in-council while the city elects a mayor to head the Greater Bengaluru Authority. The city-level body will have administrative control over not just corporations, but all other parastatals as well.
But the question on everybody’s mind is whether Mr. Kumaraswamy, who had expanded the limits of the civic body to form the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in 2007, will now restructure the civic body into multiple corporations with a common mayor.
Sources said the chief minister — who in the runup to the polls had said that he would not allow for Kempegowda's Bengaluru to be divided — defended formation of the BBMP. Sources, who were at the presentation, said that he cited badly run municipalities on the city's outskirts, which were rapidly urbanising, as one of the main reasons behind formation of the BBMP in 2007.
However, the committee is learnt to have made a case that while BBMP was the answer more than a decade ago, multiple corporations is the probable solution in 2018.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah had formed the BBMP Restructuring Committee and passionately championed the idea of multiple corporations.
Mr. Kumaraswamy told mediapersons after the meeting that the committee's report would be studied in detail before taking a call on the proposed solutions. However, he did not specify a time frame or mechanism for the same.
Dr. Parameshwara is learnt to have said they will first study the London model before taking a call on the issue.
Another concern expressed was the hit Brand Bengaluru will take if the city is divided. Members of the Restructuring Committee stressed that the BBMP is not Bengaluru. “In the proposed model, five corporations each with a mayor-in-council will be integrated at the top by Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) led by the chief minister for five years and later by a directly elected mayor,” explained B.S. Patil, chairperson of the Committee.
GBA, and not BBMP, will be the new idea of Bengaluru. Thus, while BBMP can be restructured into multiple corporations, it’s the first time that all parastatals like BDA, BMTC, BMRCL, BWSSB, and police will be aligned to implement a single agenda under GBA, re-imagining the city as a region, argued V. Ravichandar, member of the Committee.
The committee also presented a draft of Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, which is a tool to implement its recommendations.
“There is an understanding at the government level that it cannot be business as usual for the city. We have presented our set of solutions after four years of work, which needs to be put to wide-ranging debate in the city first, and we will be happy with what emerges out of that consultation,” Mr. Ravichandar said.
Key recommendations
Three-tier governance structure
Ward Committees: greater empowerment and with proportional representation
Multiple corporations: Five corporations each headed by a mayor-in-council
Greater Bengaluru Authority: headed by CM for first five years and later by a directly elected mayor
All parastatals, like BDA, BMTC, BWSSB, to come under GBA
Planning
Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee to be reconstituted at the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (8,000 sq.km.) level
Political empowerment
Mayors of various corporations and the city mayor will be executive heads of respective units and, unlike now, the commissioners will only assist them
