Bengaluru to replace BBMP with five civic bodies

- The new five corporations are named Bengaluru Central, Bengaluru East, Bengaluru West, Bengaluru North, and Bengaluru South. This structure replaces the 18-year-old Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). - A three-tiered governance system is being established, with a Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) led by the Chief Minister at the top, followed by the five corporations, and then ward committees. - This is not the first attempt to restructure Bengaluru's civic body; a similar proposal to trifurcate the BBMP was made in 2015 but was ultimately shelved. An expert committee in 2015 had recommended a division into five to eight municipalities. - The dissolution of the BBMP has been a contentious issue, with critics raising concerns about a lack of consultation with councillors and the potential for increased administrative costs and confusion over revenue distribution. There are also fears that the restructuring is a tactic to further delay the BBMP elections, which have been overdue since September 2020. - The five new corporations will cover a combined area of 720.9 sq km, which is roughly the same as the former BBMP. Each new corporation will have its own commissioner and administrative setup. - The division of the city is based on parameters like population size, density, economic importance, and revenue potential. For example, Bengaluru West is projected to have the largest population at 4.5 million, while Bengaluru Central will be the most densely populated. - The new structure aims to address long-standing issues of inefficient governance in the rapidly growing city, where the population has more than doubled in just over two decades. The single BBMP structure was seen as inadequate for managing the city's explosive growth. - An experiment to trifurcate the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2012 was unsuccessful, and the civic body was reunified in 2022; some fear a similar fate for Bengaluru.