Kolkata: The Bengal govt on Wednesday passed two legislations that proposed to increase the number of Kolkata Municipal Corporation wards from 144 to 209, and Howrah Municipal Corporation wards from 50 to 68. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari assured MLAs that that no norm was being flouted during the process, as the opposition has alleged.The two Bills — Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and Howrah Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2026 — were passed by a voice vote during the special one-day assembly session.“The way some legislators spoke in the assembly, it seems that the state has flouted every norm to redraw the city’s map. It is not like that. There will be provision for the common people to submit claims and objections. The state election commission will also hold two all-party meetings,” Adhikari said.“The minister (Agnimitra Paul) informed the house about the proposal to increase the wards to 209. The ward’s boundary, number of people residing there, and voters will be decided after that. The state election commission will endow the responsibility on the respective administrative departments of the state. There will be a draft notification after that,” Adhikari said.He mentioned that the draft notification will have a designated window for public consultation. “There will be a minimum of 7-15 days to receive claims and objections from the people. The state election commission will call two all-party meetings during the process; the first will be held a day before draft publication,” Adhikari said. Urban development minister Paul said the decision was taken because of changes in population distribution and will help ensure better civic services. The Howrah Municipal Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, has been prepared in accordance with the Howrah Municipal Act.“Once the wards are reorganised, citizens will receive civic services more effectively,” she said.“Howrah has faced waterlogging issues for long. Sewers are clogged with plastic bags and we are imposing penalty for that from Sept 1. Howrah has witnessed a significant increase in population and road space has become narrow. There was no planning to tackle that. We are bringing a master plan for Howrah’s roads, drainage and water supply,” Paul said.She alleged that the previous Trinamool govt had deliberately delayed civic polls out of fear of losing elections. She also alleged that Howrah had been deprived of Rs 200 crore in municipal financial allocations.Howrah Uttar MLA and minister of state for urban development and municipal affairs Umesh Rai said people of Howrah were cheated in the name of civic services. “Bali municipality has been kept as an isolated island. The biggest problem is water scarcity. CM Adhikari has allocated Rs 4,702 crore for the development of Howrah Municipality.”Former urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim said that the earlier govt had a plan to connect Bali with Howrah for development.
