Delhi’s three civic bodies will be merging as one whole from May 22, centre issues a notification

BJP-ruled civic bodies in Delhi are set to be dissolved in the next five days, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s term set to end on Wednesday. 

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, the central government will appoint a “special officer” to run the new unified civic body until the first meeting of the corporation is held.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022 (10 of 2022), the Central Government hereby appoints the 22nd day of May, 2022, on which the Municipal Corporation of Delhi shall be constituted,” the notification reads.A legislation to unify the three civic bodies was approved by the Lok Sabha on March 30 and by the Rajya Sabha on April 5. The legislation had become an Act after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bill on April 18.

The Act reduces the number of wards to 250 from the existing 272, which means that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will have to undergo a delimitation exercise before elections. The Centre will form a delimitation commission to carry out the demarcation of wards.

A senior SDMC official said the exercises of the deliberative wing, which is formed by the elected representatives, will cease to operate from Wednesday but the civic body will keep functioning its obligatory duties.

”From Wednesday, there will no policy-making exercises in the SDMC. Meetings of the SDMC House, standing committee will also not be carried out. The Union home ministry will issue a separate notification for dissolving the three civic bodies and unify them,” an official told PTI on Tuesday