KMC sets up central, borough committees to begin ward delimitation exercise for proposed 200 wards

Kolkata, Jul 14 (PTI) The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has constituted a Central Delimitation Committee and borough-level committees to undertake the revision of municipal ward boundaries as part of the process to redraw the city's electoral map ahead of the next civic polls, according to official orders. The exercise follows directions from the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department and has been initiated under provisions of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, which provides for revision of municipal areas and wards through an amendment to Schedule III. According to an official order issued by the KMC Administrator and Municipal Commissioner Smita Pandey on July 10, a nine-member Central Delimitation Committee (CDC) has been formed under the chairmanship of Special Municipal Commissioner Soumya Bhattacharyya. Other members include Special Director (Law) Md Salim Ansari, Joint Municipal Commissioner Jyotirmoy Tanti, Director General (Civil) Jyoti Prakash Sarkar, Chief Managers of the Revenue Department from different zones, Chief Vigilance Officer Debasish Biswas and Chief Valuer and Surveyor Nitish Chandra Basak, who will function as the member secretary. The order said the committee has been tasked with scrutinising ward boundaries and preparing a proposal for revising ward limits for the creation of 200 municipal wards within the stipulated timeframe. It will also coordinate, supervise and monitor the delimitation exercise through Borough Delimitation Committees (BDCs), brief their members on the process and, if necessary, organise training programmes. The Chief Valuer and Surveyor has been designated as the nodal officer for the exercise and will head a dedicated cell for preparation of records, ward maps and reports, besides coordinating with other departments. The Central Delimitation Committee has been asked to submit its recommendations to the Administrator and Municipal Commissioner by July 27 for scrutiny and finalisation of the draft proposal for revision of Schedule III. In a separate order issued the same day, the civic body constituted Borough Delimitation Committees for all 16 boroughs of the KMC. Each committee will be headed by the respective Deputy Assessor-Collector of the borough as chairperson and will comprise officials from the assessment, civil, survey, health and veterinary wings, among others. The borough committees have been entrusted with identifying existing ward boundaries, collecting and verifying field-level data, preparing draft proposals for redrawing ward boundaries and forwarding their recommendations to the Central Delimitation Committee. "The exercise has been initiated strictly in accordance with the provisions of the KMC Act and the state government's directions. The objective is to complete the delimitation process in a time-bound and transparent manner before the draft proposal is finalised," a senior KMC official told PTI. Another senior civic official said the borough committees would play a key role in gathering ground-level inputs. "The local committees will examine demographic and geographical factors and submit their recommendations to the central committee, which will prepare the final draft," the official said. PTI SCH RG