The new ward delimitation exercise is supposed to fix the disparity in ward sizes and population in the city. On paper, it does, but the ground reality will be vastly different, drawing criticism that the new delimited wards will be outdated on arrival.
Presently, the ward sizes vary from an average population per ward of 28,541 in Shivajinagar to 1,00,347 in Yeshwanthpur assembly constituencies. Outer zone wards have a larger area and population than core city wards. The ward delimitation theoretically fixes this. “We have carried out delimitation increasing the number of wards to 243, with a uniform average population of 34,700 with a maximum variation of 10%. There are 45 new wards created in the same area,” said Chief Civic Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath.
While the new Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Act, 2020 provides for expansion of the BBMP area by one kilometre from the existing boundary, the committee has chosen not to expand the Palike’s boundary.
