Howrah Municipal Corporation
Howrah Municipal Corporation | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Howrah Municipal Corporation | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Leadership | |
Mayor | Vacant |
Deputy Mayor | Vacant |
Chairperson | Sujoy Chakraborty |
| Seats | 68[1] |
| Elections | |
Last election | 2013 |
Next election | 2026[2] |
| Meeting place | |
| HMC Office, Howrah, West Bengal | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) is the local government of the city of Howrah, West Bengal, India. It is the second largest municipal corporation and urban area in the state. Howrah Municipal Corporation is under Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, KMDA and it falls in greater Kolkata. This civic administrative body administers an area of 63.55 square kilometres (24.54 sq mi) now.[3][4][5]
History
[edit]Foundation
[edit]
The introduction of the East India Railway in 1854 caused an influx of people in Howrah city. As a result, public nuisance and threat of epidemics arose. So, the Howrah Offence Act was founded in 1857 to ensure prevention of local nuisances. The district magistrate was empowered to prosecute the law breaker with a fine of Rs 200 or rigorous imprisonment of one month. But nothing changed much. Ultimately, the Governor General vouched Section No. 12 of the Act of 1858, by which the Howrah Municipality was formed with the legislative council's due approval. However, the municipal committee was dissolved after a few years.[6] In 1862, Howrah Municipality was reorganised.[7]
On 2 May 1864, by the Municipal District Improvement Act III (1864), the Howrah Municipality Board was formed and from 2 August 1864 it started execution vide Gazette Notification.[6] As per the Howrah Municipal Corporation Act of 1980, Howrah became a municipal corporation.[8]
History
[edit]The first board comprised Mr E. C. Craster as the District Magistrate and chairman and Mr N. Macnicol as vice-chairman. The first board also comprised D. R. Bird as managing director, C. H. Denham as chief engineer, R. W. King, W Stalkartt, R. N. Barges, D W Campbell, Babu Gopal Lal Chowdhury, Babu Rajmohan Basu and Babu Kshetra Mohan Mitra as other members. The first board meeting was held on 6 May 1864. The first municipal election in Howrah took place on 1 December 1884 declaring the following commissioners from their respective wards.[6]
Kedarnath Bhattacharya was the first Indian elected vice-chairman and chairman. In 1886, when Mr. E C Craster stepped down, Babu Upendra Chandra was elected as chairman and Baboo Kedarnath Bhattacharya was selected as vice-chairman. But due to a discrepancy in his election, Upendra Chandra's chairmanship was cancelled and Kedarnath Bhattacharya had to officiate in his position for a few years. After some years, nearly from 1890 the district magistrate was appointed as chairman till 1916 when Babu Mahendranath Roy won the election with a huge majority.[6] He subsequently was largely responsible for the development of the city and was largely responsible for its modernisation of the city.[6][9]
Bally Municipality
[edit]Bally Municipality was formed, separating it out from Howrah on 31 March 1883.[10] In July 2015, Howrah Municipal Corporation and Bally Municipality were merged. 35 wards of the Bally Municipality were decreased to 16 under the Howrah Municipal Corporation.[11][12]
In November 2021, West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a bill to separate Bally Municipality from Howrah Municipal Corporation.[13]
Administration
[edit]The corporation area is divided into sixty-six wards.[3][14] Each ward elects a councillor and each borrow elects a chairman.[15] The Mayor-in-council, which is led by Mayor and supported by Commissioner and officers, is responsible for administration of the corporation area.[15]
List of Mayors
[edit]| S. No. | Name | Term[16] | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | ||||
| 1 | Alokedut Das | 1984 | 1989 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 2 | Swadesh Chakraborty | 1989 | 1999 | ||
| 3 | Subinoy Ghosh | 1999 | 2000 | ||
| 4 | Gopal Mukherjee | 2000 | 2008 | ||
| 5 | Mamata Jaiswal | 2008 | 2013 | ||
| 6 | Rathin Chakravarty | 2013 | 2018 | Trinamool Congress | |
Current members
[edit]Services
[edit]The HMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city.
- Water purification and supply
- Sewage treatment and disposal
- Garbage disposal and street cleanliness
- Solid waste management
- Building and maintenance of roads, streets and flyovers.
- Street lighting
- Maintenance of parks and open spaces
- Cemeteries and Crematoriums
- Registering of births and deaths
- Conservation of heritage sites
- Disease control, including immunization
- Public municipal schools etc.
Elections
[edit]2026
[edit]| S. No. | Party | Councillors | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Flag | |||
| 1. | AITC | .svg) |
TBA |  |
| 2. | INC |  |
| |
| 3. | CPI(M) | _flag.svg) |
| |
| 4. | BJP |  |
| |
| Wards | 68 | |||
2015 Bally
[edit]In October 2015, elections to 16 wards of newly merged Bally Municipality were held, with Trinamool Congress winning all 16 wards.[17]
2013
[edit]| S. No. | Party | Councillors[18] | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Flag | |||
| 1. | AITC | |
42 |  35 |
| 2. | INC | |
4 |  5 |
| 3. | CPI(M) | |
2 | 24 |
| 4. | BJP | |
2 | 1 |
| Wards | 50 | |||
2008
[edit]| S. No. | Party | Alliance | Councillors[19] | Change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Flag | Party | Alliance | ||||
| 1. | CPI(M) | |
Left Front | 26 | 33 | | |
| 2. | CPI |  |
3 | | |||
| 3. | AIFB |  |
2 | | |||
| 4. | RSP |  |
1 | | |||
| 5. | JD(S) | _flag_(1).svg) |
1 | | |||
| 6. | INC | |
None | 9 | | ||
| 7. | AITC | |
7 | | |||
| 8. | BJP | |
1 | | |||
| Wards | 50 | ||||||
References
[edit]- ↑ "Bengal clears Bill to raise KMC wards to 209, Howrah to 68". Millenium Post. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
- ↑ "New Kolkata Municipal Corporation board by Dec 7, civic election after delimitation: CM Suvendu Adhikari". Times of India. Retrieved 16 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Howrah Corporation". Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
- ↑ "HMC" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ↑ "Bally Municipality". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The dirtiest since 1889". m.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ↑ "About HMC". hmcgov.in. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ↑ "Other Municipal Corporation Acts". Official website of Department of Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
- ↑ Mukherjee, Alok Kumar (1992). Howrah, a Study in Urbanization. Chatterjee Publishers. ISBN 978-81-85089-08-9.
- ↑ O'Malley & Chakravarti 1909, p. 31
- ↑ "All that you need to know about the Howrah added area (Bally) civic polls". NEWSMEN. 1 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ↑ Basu, Pritesh (4 January 2016). "HMC sets up 'Mayor's Cop' to monitor civic amenities". Millennium Post. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ↑ "Bengal's Howrah Municipal Corporation Bifurcated Month Before Civic Polls". NDTV.com. 17 November 2021. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ↑ "HMC". Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- 1 2 "About us page". Howrah Municipal Corporation. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
- ↑ "Official Website of Howrah Municipal Corporation".
- ↑ "Trinamool wins 127 of 163 seats in municipal polls". The Hindu. 10 October 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ↑ "Trinamool sweeps civic polls in West Bengal". Rediff. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ↑ "Rout of the Left". Telegraph India. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
Sources
[edit]- O'Malley, L. S. S.; Chakravarti, Monmohan (1909). Bengal District Gazetteers: Howrah. Bengal Secretariat Book Depot.