Kolkata, Aug. 12 -- The West Bengal assembly on Thursday passed two bills proposing to increase the number of civic wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) from 144 to 209 and in the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) from 50 to 68.

Presenting the bills in the assembly, state urban development and municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul said that delimitation would lead to the creation of smaller wards with lower populations, making faster delivery of civic services to citizens easier.

"We decided to increase the number of wards on the basis of population. Citizens will get better services," Paul said.

In mid-July, the KMC launched the exercise to redraw the boundaries of the city's 144 municipal wards based on population de...