KDMC ward formation faces 3,400 objections from 27 villages seeking separate council

KALYAN: Out of a total of 3,664 suggestions and objections received on the proposed ward formation for the upcoming Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) elections, as many as 3,400 came from residents of the 27 villages merged into KDMC, along with political leaders who are demanding a separate municipal council for these villages.Opposition leaders have strongly backed these objections. NCP (SP) MP Suresh Mhatre alias Balya Mama pointed out that since a case regarding the demand for a separate municipal council for the 27 villages is still pending before the Supreme Court, the ward formation should ideally keep these villages separate. He argued that if the court rules in favor of forming a new council, it would avoid complications in detaching these villages from KDMC.Shiv Sena (UBT) Kalyan District President Dipesh Mhatre added that the ward formation has merged the villages with KDMC’s old jurisdiction in such a way that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of a new council, fresh elections would have to be held again. He urged the administration to take the 3,400 objections seriously before finalizing the draft.However, KDMC sources revealed that the 3,400 objections concerning the 27 villages were not taken up for hearing, as they were deemed outside the scope of ward boundary-related objections.

The remaining 264 objections were reviewed, and similar issues were grouped into 30 key points for collective hearings.Meanwhile, MNS leader Prakash Bhoir alleged that the ward formation favors the ruling party. He highlighted irregularities, claiming that in some areas, a single village has been split into two wards. According to rules, if four wards are grouped into one panel, the remaining wards should be combined into panels of three or five.

Instead, Panel No. 21 has three wards, Panels 22–24 have four each, and Panel No. 25 again has three, which he said violates the norms.The objections also raise concerns about population imbalance, boundary changes, and reservation distribution. KDMC has 122 seats across 31 multi-member panels, of which 29 panels have four wards each and two panels have three wards each.According to a KDMC press release, the state government authorized Dipendra Kushwah, Development Commissioner (Industries) to conduct hearings, held Thursday at the civic headquarters, attended by Municipal Commissioner Abhinav Goyal, Deputy Commissioner (Elections) Ramesh Misal, and other officials.