‘Greater Bengaluru region’ among 6 Satellite Towns; 50% of gram panchayats included in 86 gram panchayats!

 Greater Bengaluru Focus on 5 urban corporations

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್ 

Bengaluru: The area of ​​Greater Bengaluru region is expected to double that of BBMP, and the government is looking to form five urban corporations that will include industrial areas around the city.

With the Greater Bengaluru Administration Act- 2024 coming into force, the government is set to announce the area of ​​Greater Bengaluru region soon. The government, which was waiting for the Governor’s assent, is gearing up to notify the Greater Bengaluru areas, which have already been mostly finalized, as soon as possible.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had said a year and a half ago, ‘If the industrial areas and developed areas outside the city, including Electronic City, come under the jurisdiction of the corporation, the revenue will increase. A thought is being given in that regard.’ It will now be a reality in the ‘Greater Bengaluru Region’.

The areas of Bengaluru Urban District, including Bengaluru Rural District, and the areas notified by the government will be called ‘Greater Bengaluru Region’. There are 86 Gram Panchayats in Bengaluru Urban District, of which 50% are Gram Panchayats, and some areas of rural and Ramanagara District will also come under the jurisdiction of ‘Greater Bangalore’.

The Cabinet on January 30 approved the implementation of the ‘Greater Bengaluru Integrated Suburban Development Project’ to develop six sub-cities around Bengaluru City under Section 15(1)(b) of the Karnataka Urban Development Authority Act 197. Accordingly, the Bidadi Integrated Satellite Town Project has been implemented and notification has also been issued for the acquisition of 10,000 acres of land. The process of Devanahalli, Nelamangala, Hoskote, Doddaballapur, Magadi Integrated Satellite Town Projects is yet to be initiated. 

Considering most of the area between these six sub-cities as the ‘Greater Bengaluru Area’, the government had approved the development of the Satellite Towns. Since the Bengaluru Development Authority also comes under the ‘Greater Bengaluru Administration Act-2024’, all the areas of the BDA will come under the ‘Greater Bengaluru Area’. 

BBMP is currently in the area of ​​708 square kilometers, to which an area of ​​250 square kilometers will be added, making ‘Greater Bengaluru ’ of about 1050 square kilometers. The BBMP Reorganization Committee (Brand Bengaluru’s Committee) had reported that urban corporations can be formed with 5 corporations, two zones in each corporation, a total of 400 wards, and 80 wards for each corporation. However, the area of ​​Greater Bengaluru is likely to increase more than this. 

The area of ​​about 1,500 square kilometers between the five sub-cities will be called ‘Greater Bengaluru Area’. As five sub-cities will be formed along the boundaries of the urban corporations, it is expected that rural and Ramanagara districts will also see maximum development along with the urban district.

One corporation for a population of 30 lakhs!

The city has a population of about 1.50 crores, and it is possible to form a city corporation for a population of about 30 lakhs in the ‘Greater Bengaluru Region’. As per the act, they will be named as ‘Bengaluru Central City Corporation’, ‘Bengaluru North City Corporation’, ‘Bengaluru South City Corporation’, ‘Bengaluru East City Corporation’, and ‘Bengaluru West City Corporation’.

Although there is an idea to form three city corporations, it will increase the scope of the city corporation and hinder the development of local areas. Therefore, officials said that a small city corporation has been favored.

The act states that each city corporation to be formed in the ‘Greater Bengaluru Region’ should have a population of at least 10 lakhs. The conditions imposed are that there should be five thousand residents per square kilometer, the annual income of each municipal corporation should not be less than ₹300 crore, and the proportion of jobs in non-agricultural activities should be less than 50 percent of the total jobs.

BBMP, Gram Panchayats to be abolished

The government should issue a draft notification identifying the boundaries of the municipal corporations and allow 30 days for objections. As soon as the final notification is issued, the BBMP and Gram Panchayats under the jurisdiction of the new municipal corporations will cease to exist. The government itself will handle all the responsibilities until the new municipal corporations come into existence. The ‘Greater Bangalore Authority’ headed by the Chief Minister will take all the responsibility.

‘Greater Bengaluru Region’ boundary extent!

Electronic City, Attibele, Jigani Industrial Area, Bommasandra, Sarjapur, Bagalur, Rajanukunte, Hersaghatta, Dasanpur, Makali, Tavarekere, Kumbalagode, Kaggalipur, Harohalli.