Kolkata Municipal Corporation

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Kolkata Municipal Corporation
কলকাতা পৌরসংস্থা
Logo KMC.PNG
Logo of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
India-Kolkata-locator-map.PNG
Abbreviation KMC
Motto Purosree Bibardhan (পুরশ্রী বিবর্ধন)
Formation 1876
Type Municipal
Headquarters Kolkata
Official language
 Bengali, English
Sovan Chatterjee
Staff
 37,829 (as on 31 March 2003)
Website Kolkatamycity.com
File:Relations among Kolkata District, police area, KMC.jpg
Map showing KMC limits

Kolkata Municipal Corporation or KMC (Bengali: কলকাতা পৌরসংস্থা) (formerly Calcutta Municipal Corporation or CMC) is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. This civic administrative body administers an area of 200.71 km2. Its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali script. KMC is headed by Sovan Chatterjee the present Mayor of Kolkata.

Structure

The KMC was established in 1876. Under the guidance of the first Minister of Local Self-Government in Bengal, Sir Surendranath Banerjee, the Calcutta Municipal Act of 1923 made provision for the enfranchisement of women and the election of a Mayor annually; the first was Chittaranjan Das with Subhas Chandra Bose as his Chief Executive Officer.[1] Later mayors include Deshapriya Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, Abul Kasem Fazlul Haque, and for the 2010-2015 term, Sovan Chatterjee.[2]

The city is divided into 144 administrative wards that are grouped into 15 boroughs.[3] Each of these wards elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee consisting of the councillors elected from the respective wards of the borough. The Corporation, through the borough committees, maintains government-aided schools, hospitals and municipal markets and partakes in urban planning and road maintenance.[4] The corporation as the apex body discharges its function through the Mayor-in-Council, consisting of a mayor, assisted by a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC. The mayor is responsible for the overall functioning of the KMC and has a tenure of five years.[5] At present, the All India Trinamool Congress holds the power in the KMC.

Criticism

Recently the KMC has faced a lot of criticism for legalizing unauthorized construction largely responsible for a number of deaths because of fire. This was also responsible of the unplanned growth in the city.[citation needed]

The Sheriff of Kolkata and The KMDA

The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata.[6] The Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences. Another ancillary civic body is the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) responsible for the statutory planning and development of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA).[7] The KMA includes a large suburban hinterland around the urban centres of Kolkata.

Area of Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the KMC covers the area covered by the Kolkata Police (which in turn includes the area of Kolkata District), but includes an adjacent area as well. See Civic Administration of Kolkata. According to KMC website, erstwhile Joka-I & Joka-II Gram Panchayats were added to municipal limits, although information on their distribution into wards was not available.[8] This addition increases the area of KMC to 200.71 square kilometres (77.49 sq mi).[8] In 2011, it was announced that Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation area will be coterminous.[9][10] Kolkata Postal District however extends right up to Barrackpur in the North, Barasat in the East, up to Baruipur in South-East and Joka in South and up to Batanagar in South-West. The Postal code in this entire area starts with 700, indicating Postal Sorting District of Kolkata. Thus Kolkata Postal area is much bigger than the area of KMC, Kolkata Police or Kolkata District. In general term, people identify a locality with its Postal address. Postal address of people residing in the delivery jurisdiction of any of the 160 Delivery Post offices of Kolkata will be having PIN Code no. from 700001 (Kolkata-1) to 700160 (Kolkata-160). So for all practical purpose, anyone residing in Kolkata Postal area, identify himself/herself as Calcuttan.

Services

Kolkata Municipal Corporation Headquarters

The KMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city.

See also

References

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External links

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