Over 1,000 plaints come up for hearing at delimitation panel sitting in Ernakulam

Over 1,000 complaints came up at a hearing held on the delimitation of wards and divisions in 96 local bodies in Ernakulam on Thursday (January 30).

The hearing was led by Delimitation Commission Chairman and State Election Commissioner A. Shajahan. The complaints were raised on the basis of a draft notification on delimitation of wards. A field-level inquiry was held on complaints initially before the complainants were heard by the Commission.

As many as 1,990 wards have been formed in the district across 82 grama panchayats, 13 municipalities, and the Kochi Corporation. Of them, 147 are new wards. Earlier, the district had only 1,843 wards. As per the delimitation, the Corporation will now have 76 wards instead of the existing 74, while municipalities and panchayats will have 447 and 1,467 wards respectively as against 421 and 1,338.

Once the district-level hearings are over, the Commission will hold a full sitting. If required, it will summon the officials concerned for gathering details. The final notification will be issued based on the hearing and inquiry reports. So far, hearings have been completed in Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam districts.

Mostly complaints about delimitation of coastal wards were raised at the hearing. Complaints regarding borders of wards, especially the alleged redrawing of borders for the sake of a couple of wards, population, delimitation in municipalities and the Corporation, renaming of wards, and differences with digital maps, were also raised.

Ward delimitation had been done on the basis of the 2011 census, whereas the existing wards were created on the basis of the 2001 census.

The Commission explained the basis for the changes in delimitation to the complainants at the hearing. Major complaints would be examined further before a final decision is taken. The final notification will be made available in the public domain, and a copy will be provided to the complainants.

The hearing started with complaints from Muvattupuzha municipality.

The District Collector had submitted the inquiry report on complaints to the Commission. Further collection of evidence on the report was held at the hearing.