State orders 29 civic bodies to draft ward boundaries

Mumbai: The state govt Tuesday directed commissioners of 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Thane and Pune, to immediately initiate the process of drafting ward boundaries of local bodies where polls are overdue.

Corporations will also have to invite suggestions and objections from citizens on the new boundaries, reports ChaitanyaMarpakwar.A govt order stated that as per an SC order dated May 6, “it is necessary to hold the elections immediately… In the election process… formation of wards and determination of reservation, division of the assembly electoral roll on a ward-wise basis, and holding of elections are the three stages.” The orders were issued by the state urban development department for 29 corporations, including BMC, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Kalyan-Dombivli, among others. The drafts will be prepared by the municipal commissioners and sent to the state election commission (SEC) for final approval. Corporations will also have to invite suggestions and objections from citizens on the new ward boundaries and give them a hearing before publishing the final ward boundaries.

Last month, Supreme Court directed the Maharashtra SEC to notify elections to local self-govt bodies across the state within four weeks and complete the election process within four months. The court also ordered restoration of OBC reservation in local bodies as it existed prior to the 2022 report that altered the quota structure. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N K Singh passed the directions while hearing a batch of petitions seeking immediate conduct of municipal and panchayat elections that were deferred for over two years.

Observing that democratic functioning cannot be held hostage to procedural delays, the court said elections must now proceed without further postponement.Tuesday’s govt order stated “it is necessary to hold the elections to the local bodies immediately… Considering the time required to complete the various stages and substages of the Municipal Corporation elections and directions of the SC, it is necessary to start the election process immediately, and orders are required to be issued regarding the formation of wards for the elections.”BMC has 227 electoral wards. Fifty per cent among these are reserved for women candidates, there is parallel reservation for scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and OBC category candidates among women in these seats. The last time the number of electoral wards were increased in Mumbai was in 2002, when the number of wards went up from 221 to 227. Mumbai is divided into two districts, city and suburban.