Centre issues notification merging Delhi's three civic bodies from May 22

New Delhi, May 18: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday issued a notification for the unification of three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCD) into a single entity with effect from May 22.

"Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022 will come into force on May 22. With the move, all the 3 municipal corporations of Delhi- North DMC, South DMC and East DMC will merge into one entity," said the MHA.

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.

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.

The move to merge the three civic bodies had triggered a political blame game with Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party terming it a tactic to delay the elections.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that the BJP wanted to unify civic bodies only to delay the elections.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta had said that the unification of three municipal corporations into a single entity will prove to be a milestone in the development journey of the city.