The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has begun a preliminary survey to create space for 209 councillors at its headquarters on SN Banerjee Road, after the West Bengal Assembly passed an amendment proposing an increase in KMC wards from 144 to 209.
The proposed expansion would add 65 councillors to the civic body. KMC officials are examining whether the Council Chamber on the first floor of the headquarters can be modified to accommodate the larger House. The chamber currently has capacity for 146 councillors, leaving space for 63 more to be provided.
“This is the first time in the history of Bengal’s municipal governance that over 200 councillors will have to be accommodated at the headquarters of the KMC. We have to carve out space for these councillors,” a senior KMC official said, according to a report by The Telegraph.
The inspection is being carried out by engineers and senior officials. The exercise is expected to be completed by the first week of December, the official said.
The proposed increase follows the passage of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in August. The amendment seeks to raise the number of wards from 144 to 209, although the report does not specify when the new ward structure will take effect or when elections under the revised arrangement will be held.
The Council Chamber is the venue for monthly House meetings involving elected ward councillors, the mayor, the deputy mayor and members of the mayor-in-council. The chamber is used for deliberations on municipal matters, debates on policies and the passage of annual budgets.
KMC officials said each additional councillor would need at least a table and chair in the chamber. An estimate for the work is being prepared, and a tender is expected to be released shortly, after which the modifications can begin.
The space constraints highlight an immediate administrative requirement created by the proposed expansion: the civic headquarters will have to support a larger elected body within an existing institutional complex. The report does not provide details of any proposed structural alteration, seating plan or estimated cost.
The Council Chamber is also part of the civic body’s institutional history. The headquarters has historically accommodated freedom fighters including Subhas Chandra Bose and Chittaranjan Das, both of whom served as mayors of the corporation.
The preliminary survey and proposed tender are the next steps identified by KMC officials as the civic body prepares for the possibility of a 209-member House.
