Since February 14 was the last date of submission, at least 400 suggestions and objections were received on Monday. Now, the BMC will submit them before the State Election Commission (SEC) by February 16. (File) The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has received more than 800 suggestions and objections to proposed changes in electoral ward boundaries or delimitation exercise for the upcoming municipal corporation polls. Officials from the BMC said some of the suggestions and objections were from residents on dividing big housing complexes or colonies into two different electoral wards.
BMC’s election department officials said the exact numbers of suggestions and objections may increase as scrutiny was undeway till late Monday evening. Since February 14 was the last date of submission, at least 400 suggestions and objections were received on Monday. Now, the BMC will submit them before the State Election Commission (SEC) by February 16.
The civic body had sought public’s feedback on changed boundaries of 236 electoral wards. The number of wards in Mumbai has increased from 227 to 236. Sources from the BMC election department said most of the feedback is from politicians and party workers objecting to changes in local electoral ward boundaries.
“Most letters are related to objections filed on change in ward boundaries from political leaders and party workers. Apart from this, residents from many housing societies and chawls had also written to us pointing out that big housing complexes or colonies have been divided into two wards after delimitation, which will cause inconvenience. We will conduct a hearing,” said an official from BMC. The hearing is likely to be started from February 22 by a committee appointed by the SEC. “Everybody will be given a hearing. We will soon decide exact dates,” the official added.
According to BMC data, 812 suggestions and objections were received until 3 pm on Monday of which 339 were from the western suburbs, 263 from eastern suburbs, 76 from the island city and 134 from the election head office.
The committee will submit its report with recommendations before the SEC on March 2. The BMC polls are likely to take place by the end of March or the first week of April after the lottery for ward reservations takes place.
The five year term of the elected body of the BMC will end on March 8.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
