After the completion of the hearing conducted for those who submitted their suggestion and objections on the ward, restructuring the BMC on Saturday submitted the final draft plan to the State Election Commission (SEC). It is now likely to take another eight days for the SEC to review the draft, before finalising it.
The civic body has formed nine new wards by merging, splitting and reconstituting areas from neighbouring wards. Thereafter increasing the number of wards from 227 to 236. According to BMC officials following the demarcation process, there are over 70 per cent changes in the boundaries of electoral wards, while over 50 per cent of changes in the boundaries of administrative wards.
Out of the new 9 wards, 6 wards are considered Shiv Sena strongholds, so the BJP has been opposing the restructuring since the start.
After approving the ward delimitation draft that was submitted by the BMC, the State Election Commission (SEC) had asked the civic body to invite suggestions and objections from citizens and other stakeholders on this matter. The BMC had opened the suggestion window from February 1 till 4 pm on February 14.
According to the data shared by senior officials, BMC received 812 suggestions and objections till Monday, out of which 454 or 55 per cent were filed on February 14. Of the total suggestions and objections, 339 came from western suburbs, 263 from eastern suburbs and 76 were filed from the island city.
Hearing on suggestions and objections began on February 22. The final report was to be submitted to the SEC on March 2nd. However the same was submitted on March 5. The SEC will further review it before finalising it. "We have submitted the draft plan and now we will wait for SEC to take a final call," said a senior BMC official.
