Kolkata, 27 August (H.S.): The number of wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) may be increased by two more, taking the total to 211, compared with the 209 proposed in the draft delimitation list released earlier this week by the West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department.

According to the draft delimitation list, the number of KMC wards is proposed to increase from the existing 144 to 209. However, a senior official of the Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department said that even after the proposed increase, the government’s objective of maintaining a balance in the number of voters in each ward and limiting the maximum number of voters to 16,000 could not be achieved in 45 wards.

The official said there is a strong possibility that the number of wards may have to be increased further to 211 to address the imbalance. Maintaining a reasonable balance in voter numbers across wards is considered important for ensuring equitable distribution of development funds among the wards.

The KMC, one of the oldest municipal corporations in the country, is scheduled to go to polls in November this year. However, several complaints have been filed against the draft delimitation exercise, with allegations that the process was conducted in haste and that voter numbers were not properly balanced in 45 wards.

According to information available from the draft, one ward in central Kolkata has around 32,000 voters, while 12 wards have an average of around 18,000 voters each. In contrast, the average number of voters has been reduced to around 13,000 in 32 wards.

The disparity has raised questions over how the state government’s objective of ensuring equitable distribution of development funds can be achieved when voter numbers vary significantly across these 45 wards.

Meanwhile, the neighbouring Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) is also scheduled to hold elections in November. As per its draft delimitation list, the number of HMC wards is proposed to increase from the existing 50 to 68.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey