A year after the GBA rollout, Bengaluru has 369 wards but the old service network

Bengaluru now has 369 wards, up from 198 under the former BBMP, but many of the services residents rely on are still organised for the smaller civic map.

A year after the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and its five city corporations took over, there has been no matching expansion of ward offices, primary health centres or Indira Canteens. The corporations are also working largely with staff deployed for the old 198-ward arrangement, with vacancies at around 40%.

The restructuring was intended to decentralise administration and bring responses closer to neighbourhoods. Residents continue to report gaps in waste collection, garbage blackspots, potholes and citizen services, alongside concerns over funding and execution.

GBA sources said coordination at the senior level and frequent meetings have helped move some delayed civic and infrastructure projects. But the corporations’ anticipated revenue streams — advertising, premium FAR and B-Khata to A-Khata conversions — have not substantially changed their capacity.

Elections are overdue, and councillors and ward committees are yet to be put in place. Key planning institutions also remain pending, including the Economic Development Agency and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee, as GTK reported.