Thane: Thane Municipal Corporation’s (TMC) administration has prepared a draft ward restructuring plan, which was submitted to the Urban Development Department on Tuesday.According to the draft plan, Thane will have four representatives each in 32 wards and three representatives in one ward. Based on 2017 municipal election pattern, a new ward structure has been created where nearly 20 lakh residents will elect 131 corporators. Former corporators, along with aspiring candidates, are eagerly waiting to step into TMC—currently under administrator control— as corporators once again. While local self-govt elections are not announced yet, court has directed that stalled elections be conducted at the earliest.While preparing the ward structure, processes including obtaining census information, physical site inspection, ward maps on Google Maps, and on-ground verification of ward boundaries have been completed, said a senior official.A total of 33 wards have been created for the upcoming elections – 32 with four members each and one with three members. The first ward starts at Gaimukh on Ghodbunder Road, while the last ward is the three-panel ward in Diva, according to preliminary information. Since the ward structure has been kept nearly ‘as is’, aspiring candidates’ confidence has increased. Objections and suggestions can be submitted during office hours until Sept 4, 2025. Considering population growth over the past decade, the then Maha Vikas Aghadi govt decided to increase the number of corporators. That would have added 11 corporators to TMC. However, the current govt has decided to conduct municipal elections in the old format.Thane city has been divided into areas ‘across the creek’ and ‘this side of the creek’. These are essentially two inseparable parts of Thane. Hence the ward structure and division have been done considering population on both sides.Previously, there were allegations that the then commissioner Bipin Sharma, was pressured by the ruling party to create ward structures according to their preference. It was alleged that more wards were shown in city area while fewer were shown across the creek —in areas like Kalwa, Mumbra, Diva, and Shil.TMC’s new ward plan has split Hiranandani Estate into two wards, placing 18 buildings from Hiranandani Rodas in Ward 1 and the remaining 116 buildings in Ward 2. Former BJP group leader Manohar Dumbare has objected to this division, arguing that in 2017 too, residents faced difficulties as polling booths were located 2–3 km away, leading to low voter turnout. Dumbare has demanded that the entire Hiranandani complex be included in Ward 2 to ensure unified civic facilities. Residents are also expected to file objections.
