The BMC has released a detailed map of Mumbai's 236 electoral wards

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has issued a detailed map depicting the boundaries of Mumbai's 236 electoral wards. After approving the BMC's ward delimitation/demarcation draught, the State Election Commission (SEC) has now asked the BMC to solicit citizen and other stakeholder ideas and objections on the ward delimitation.

 

From February 1 to February 14, the Mumbai civic authority is accepting comments and objections from the general public and other stakeholders. Following that, on February 16, BMC will send the document to the SEC, alerting the election body of the ideas and complaints received.

 

The BMC has also been permitted to hold public hearings for those who have submitted recommendations or objections until February 26. The BMC's concerned officer has been given till March 2 to submit the suggestions to the SEC. By combining, separating, and reconstituting parts from neighbouring wards, the civic authority has created nine new wards.

 

Following that, the number of wards was increased from 227 to 236. According to BMC employees who have been tracking the demarcation process, there have been over 70% changes in electoral ward boundaries and over 50% changes in administrative ward boundaries.

 

Three wards each in the eastern suburbs, western suburbs, and city have been increased out of the nine new electoral wards R north, which formerly had eight electoral wards, will now have nine. Ward no. 7 was created by combining territories from neighbouring wards, including electoral wards no. 6 in R north and wards 11 in R central and 13 in R central.

 

 

Many electoral wards had their limits adjusted and dragged into another ward, but the reshuffling and boundary alterations in the entire R/south ward have left local corporators unsure of which are the new wards. The proposed delimitation of electoral wards has elicited varied reactions among councillors.

 

While some people are upset that their ward boundaries have changed, causing a significant drop in their vote totals, others argue that combining and splitting electoral wards from two or three administrative wards is not a smart idea. Meanwhile, some have claimed that the entire electoral ward delimitation was done to favour the ruling party and that it is "illegal." "The exercise of ward delimitation and demarcation was commenced after I wrote to the SEC in 2021," Ravi Raja, the BMC opposition leader, stated.