Kolkata: The KMC borough delimitation committee on Tuesday started the field-level survey in several borough areas across the city. According to a KMC source, the fieldwork was conducted in four Assembly areas — Cossipore-Belgachhia, Maniktala, Shyampukur and Jadavpur.Besides undertaking field-level survey of ward-wise population, the committee members have been entrusted to do verification of the notional boundaries of the proposed wards that will undergo change after the delimitation process is completed. “The KMC has formed a Central Delimitation Committee (CDC) for smooth and speedy execution of the delimitation task. The 10-member committee will need to scrutinise ward boundaries, propose revision of areas of wards towards creation of 200 wards within the prescribed limit,” said a civic official.A KMC official told TOI that the committee would need not only to revise ward-wise areas, but to bring parity as far as the number of voters is concerned. “We have been asked to keep the number of voters within the 16,000-18,000 limit. The limit may go under change under special circumstances,” said a civic official.The delimitation exercise proposed by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari in June, which will pave the way to holding civic elections in Dec, may lead to a reduction in the number of wards in north Kolkata and a rise in the ward count in areas along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, said a civic official.A section of the KMC officials pointed to the uneven demographic shift in Kolkata. Population growth in north Kolkata was negative or low in many areas, while south Kolkata, particularly the belt around EM Bypass that has witnessed rapid expansion because of new residential complexes, commercial development and urbanisation, has seen an uptick.Currently, the discrepancy is quite visible. “Now we have wards where there are 85,000 registered voters as compared to a ward where the number is 10,000. We need to reduce this gap as far as practicable,” said Smita Pandey, the KMC administrator. According to Pandey, the draft report of the survey will be published on July 31.
