# Kochi Municipal Corporation

The Kochi Municipal Corporation is the municipal corporation that governs the Indian city of Kochi in the state of Kerala. The Corporation manages 94.88 km$^2$ of Kochi city and has a population of 677,381 within that area. It is the most densely populated city corporation in the state. Kochi Municipal Corporation has been formed with functions to improve the infrastructure of town.

## History

The port at Kozhikode held superior economic and political position in medieval Kerala coast, while Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather. The arrival of the Portuguese at Kappad, Kozhikode in 1498, during the Age of Discovery, opened a direct sea route from Europe to India. However with the arrival of Portuguese, the power of Zamorin began to decline and Kochi began to emerge as the largest port city on the coast.
The Fort Kochi had its first municipality established under Dutch influence on 18 April 1664 which was limited within Dutch occupied Kochi Stormburg Fort (Immanuel Fort), which was the oldest municipality in the Indian sub-continent. However, with the handing over of Kochi to the British as part of Anglo-Dutch treaty, the municipality of Fort Kochi was disbanded and much of the local administration were then carried out by Pandara officials (Revenue department of Cochin Kingdom). The Ernakulam town was under the direct protection of the British Resident of Kochi. A municipality under the chairmanship of British Resident was commissioned in 1823 to administer Ernakulam town. However it didn't have local representation, rather constituted by military officials of the British East India Company.
Fort Kochi, which was a part of Malabar District until 1956, was made a municipality on 1 November 1866, along with Kannur, Thalassery, Kozhikode, and Palakkad, according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns act 1850) of the British Indian Empire. Its first Municipal Council seating contest was conducted in 1883. This was first modern municipality in the region and also the first native (not under British India) municipality of the country. Much of Kochi's progress in local administration came under reign of Maharaja Rama Varma along with support of Diwan Sankunni Menon. In the year 1873, Mattancherry areas were demarcated out of Fort Kochi and a new municipal board was formed. In 1896, the Maharaja announced establishment of a municipal board for Ernakulam town, constituted by 4 members from palace, 2 members from local communities, one Englishman and 2 members from other religious minorities. The mayor was nominated by Maharaja. These were the first steps towards establishing a modern municipalities in the city.
After independence, these 3 municipalities remained and was brought under Indian laws. In 1956 the erstwhile Elamkulam Panchayat and a portion of Cheranallur Panchayat (Pachalam - Vaduthala) were amalgamated to the Ernakulam Municipality. In 1962 a portion of Palluruthy Panchayat (Mundamveli area) was amalgamated to the then Mattancherry Municipality. Edappally Panchayat was formed in 1946 and Palluruthy and Vyttila in 1953. The idea behind the formation of Kochi Municipal Corporation was first shaped in the Mattancherry Municipal Council. The Council passed a resolution requesting the Government to form Cochin Municipal Corporation amalgamating the Municipalities of Ernakulam, Mattancherry and Fort Kochi, on 9 July 1960. However, the erstwhile Fort Kochi Municipal Council was strongly opposed to this proposal.
Kerala State Assembly approved the proposal of Cochin Municipal Corporation. The Government of Kerala, as per their order G.O. (MS) 276/67/DD dt. 27/9/67, notified the formation of the Municipal Corporation of Kochi by amalgamating the three historical Municipalities of the state (Ernakulam, Mattancherry and Fort Kochi) with the Willingdon Island, four Panchayats (Palluruthy, Vennala, Vyttila and Edappally) and the small islands of Gundu Dweepu, Ramanthuruth. The new Corporation came into existence on 1 November 1967, having a total area of 83.524 km$^2$. The name of the Corporations was later changed to Kochi Municipal Corporation, to reflect the local name.

## Structure

The corporation is headed by a mayor. The current mayor is M Anil Kumar, seconded by KA Ansiya as deputy mayor. Former mayors and deputy mayors include Mercy Williams and C.K. Manisankar. The city is divided into 74 administrative wards, from which the members of the corporation council are elected for a period of five years. The corporation has its central office situated in Ernakulam and has zonal offices at Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Palluruthy, Edappally, Vaduthala and Vyttila.
For the purpose of administration, the corporation is divided into different departments, each catering to a different aspect of the city's development and welfare. The Personal Department takes care of the general administration of the city. The various departments include that of Town Planning, Health, Engineering, Revenue, Accounts and the Council Section. The corporation has a Janasevanakendram (meaning centre for people's service), that addresses the issues of the public. The corporation also operates eight maternity and child welfare centers in the city.

### Flag and emblem

The flag of Cochin Municipal Corporation is divided by a left diagonal with white forming the upper part symbolizing the city and blue forming lower part symbolizing the seas. The Emblem was adopted in 1970 which has a huge Ship in center of its crest symbolizing the maritime history of the city.

### Naming

The official name of the body was Cochin Municipal Corporation, as the city was known in its British colonial name Cochin in 1967. The state government renamed the city to its original name, Kochi and the change in name was challenged by the city municipal corporation. However, court has dismissed the plea.

## Demography

The Kochi City has a population of 596,473 as per Indian Census 2001. Kochi witnessed a rapid population growth during the past 30 years. The average decadal growth in Kochi Corporation is 7.83% whereas the nearby municipal areas registered decadal average of 18.65%, and the adjoining panchayaths had an average decadal growth of 12.13%. The Sub-urban areas around the city is showing high rate of population growth and also fast developing trends. The literacy rate is 95.5%.

## Revenue sources

The following are the Income sources for the Corporation from the Central and State Government.

### Revenue from taxes

Following is the Tax related revenue for the corporation.
* Property tax.
* Profession tax.
* Entertainment tax.
* Grants from Central and State Government like Goods and Services Tax.
* Advertisement tax.

### Revenue from non-tax sources

Following is the Non Tax related revenue for the corporation.
* Water usage charges.
* Fees from Documentation services.
* Rent received from municipal property.
* Funds from municipal bonds.

## Election history
### 2015 Local body elections

Soumini Jain from the Indian National Congress served as the mayor of Kochi Corporation in 2015. On the council, Soumini represented the municipal corporation's 36th division (Elamkulam).
| S.No. | Political Front/Party | Number of Corporators |
| 1 | United Democratic Front (UDF) | 38 |
| 2 | Left Democratic Front (LDF) | 23 |
| 3 | National Democratic Alliance (NDA) | 02 |
| 4 | Others | 11 |

### 2020 Local body elections

M Anil Kumar from the CPI(M) is the mayor of Cochin Corporation in 2020.
| S.No. | Party Name | Number of Corporators | Change |
| 01 | UDF | 30 | 8 |
| 02 | LDF | 29 | 6 |
| 03 | BJP | 5 | 3 |
| 04 | Others | 10 | 1 |

## Issues

One of the main issues that the Kochi Municipal Corporation faces is that much of the modern city has developed outside the official city limits which was last defined in 1967. As a result, the extended urban agglomeration grew much more than any other city of India, leaving the corporation dry in resources. As Kochi is a major industry and thriving modern port-city, it required much more strong leadership and plans, which till now never materialized. The city grew in unplanned way without any masterplan creating more problems. As most of the town-planning agencies like transport, electricity, water distribution were managed by Kerala Government, the Kochi Corporation failed in co-ordinating various agencies implementing various projects. Apart from all these, much of the infrastructural development funds for the city were given to Greater Cochin Development Authority which often creates administrative clashes and issues over implementation.
One of the major issue which the city faced earlier was waste management which aggravated in 2002, which was partially solved by commissioning of the Brahmapuram Waste Management Plant in 2008. However this was gradually converted into a dumping yard. In 2023, a major fire broke out at the Brahmapuram plant resulting in major parts of Kochi city getting engulfed in smoke.