Two major cities in India, Bengaluru and Mumbai, have been running without elected representatives to their municipal corporations for four years and two years, respectively. As a result, many residents say they are having to deal with decisions being made by MLAs who are not in tune with the real ground-level issues.
In Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election has been on hold since March 2022, while in Bengaluru, polls for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have been pending since September 2020. The Congress government in Karnataka has claimed that the long-delayed Bengaluru civic body polls will be held immediately after the Lok Sabha elections this year.
Corporators are elected to be the voice of the people and ensure a smooth transition of policies and development through voter inclusivity. That seems to be completely missing in these two major metros of India, explain urban experts from both cities.
‘MP Doing MLA’s Job, MLA Corporator’s Job, Corporator Missing’
“The situation has become such that today, Members of Parliament are doing the work of MLAs, MLAs are doing the work of corporators, and corporators do not exist. Where will people go? Who will be their voice? You cannot have a top-down system like we are seeing in Mumbai and Bengaluru where decisions are made by the state government, who are not in sync with what people want on the ground,” said a senior bureaucrat who has also served as the chief of the Bengaluru city civic body, BBMP.
The situation is no different in Mumbai.
Eminent citizen and activist Zoru Bathena points out that “despite all their flaws, the corporators are the eyes, ears, and voice of the people of Mumbai. For the last 2 years, Mumbai’s BMC has been running solely on the whims and fancies of the state government and its MLAs…and the ongoing loot and plunder of our beloved city are for all to see.”
A recent example from Bengaluru is of when the BBMP presented its annual budget. In accordance with the state budget announcement, it has been decided to bring about a sharp increase in the guidance value of property taxes for the southern metro. This move is expected to drastically increase the annual property tax paid by owners.
Another senior bureaucrat who has worked closely with the BBMP in an earlier term said that a budget encompasses the programmes you plan for the coming year and how you plan to finance them. “It speaks about the taxes you are going to impose and how you will meet the gap. The programmes they were to bring about, have they consulted anybody? No public consultation at all. A group of bureaucrats has decided what is good for the city. This goes against any kind of democratic norm,” he pointed out.
With the administration of the BBMP headed by commissioner Tushar Girinath, the annual budget of Rs 12,371.63 crore for the financial year 2024-25, the fourth of its kind in the absence of an elected council, was presented.
Sampat Thakur is a former corporator in BMC and a member of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). A resident of Denwadi in south Mumbai’s Thakurdwar area, Sampath one day noticed that the work of stormwater drainage in his area had begun without notice, and the local BMC contractor had piled up the large pipes in his area. This had become a cause of concern for the residents as it began to hamper their movement.
When the contractor was questioned about the work order, he failed to produce one and was asked to stop work immediately.
“He did not have a work order and, moreover, in our area, there is no issue with waterlogging. So why is this work being done? Who do we ask these questions? There are no councillors in the BMC, and officers do not answer our queries,” Thakur said.
On March 8, the BMC will complete two years of working without councillors. BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has been appointed as the “administrator” and has been running the show along with his deputies. The BMC is regarded as the richest civic body in the country, with an annual budget of over Rs 50,000 crore.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar spokesperson Clyde Crasto calls municipal corporators guardians of the wards they are elected from.
“Unfortunately, for the past two years, we do not have any of them representing their wards. This is because their term ended two years ago,” Crasto said.
V Ravichandar, a civic evangelist from Bengaluru, says that it is always good to have democratically elected people in all tiers of governance. Corporators are the ones closest to the constituents, and in a non-corporator setup, officers and bureaucrats do not have the same connections as elected representatives.
‘There’s a difference between a job and representing people’
“Corporators face elections and want to be reelected, so they take care and people can also go to somebody with their grievances. What really gets impacted is the connection between the common denominator of the citizenry and their elected representatives. As part of the administration, there are officers at the back end managing the body. For them, it’s a job. There is a difference between a job and representing people through the ballot process; that is the essence of democracy,” Ravichandar explained.
Mumbai-based RTI and civic activist Kamlakar Shenoy who keeps a close eye on BMC’s projects and expenditures thinks that “there is no control over the spending of the BMC. He said that the BMC administrator and his team have been destroying the financial stability of the civic body and compromising the safety of life and health of citizens.
“Thousands of crores of rupees could have been used to address the acute staff shortage in every department, completion of bridges, which have been closed for the last 10 years, providing safe, smooth, and obstruction-free roads and footpaths,” Shenoy said.
Prolonged absence of elected representatives defeats the very purpose of local self-government, says Mumbai-based activist BN Kumar.
“People depend on their next-door corporators who are supposed to be contactable for any local civic issue – be it the garbage, water supply, bad roads, or even environmental-related issues, ” Kumar said. The experience is that the concerned officials remain unconcerned as there is no one to hold them accountable, he pointed out and said the local elected representatives can apply the pressure required on the administration to get the matters resolved.
‘Who do you expect us to go to?’
Bengaluru resident and architect Rashmin Perla echoes Kumar’s sentiments. He speaks with utter frustration about the state of affairs.
“Whether it is law and order, illegal constructions, debris on roads, pets being neutered, borewells going dry in our area, or footpath driving causing nuisance, none of this is being addressed because there are no corporators. Who do you expect us to go to? We cannot have the MP or MLA on speed dial for all these local issues, but we are forced to do so,” he said.
Powai-based resident Pravada who daily travels between Chandivali and JVLR for work is upset due to the numerous potholes along her route. “I am very upset with the BMC that for the past many months, no one has bothered to repair them. We will have rains soon and in such a scenario if the road deteriorates, you can imagine the situation. If we had a councillor he or she could have at least fixed this,” she said.
Administrators of both BMC and BBMP were not available for comment.
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