# Barishal City Corporation

Barishal City Corporation (Bengali: বরিশাল সিটি কর্পোরেশন - in short: BCC) is a local governing body that manages all civic services in the city of Barishal, in south-central Bangladesh. The BCC government is elected by popular vote every five years. It is headed by a mayor, who presides over 40 councillors. It derives most of its powers from the City Corporation Act, 2009.
The corporation covers an area of over 58 square kilometers in the Barisal district where over five million people live as permanent residents. The body was known as Barisal Municipality previously, until it obtained the city corporation status by a ministry of local government declaration on 25 July 2002.

## History

To provide civil service and facilities to the inhabitants, Barisal Town Committee was formed in 1969 under Act VI of 1868 (B.C.) with the district magistrate as its chairman. J. C. Price was the first chairman of the town committee. It was upgraded to Barisal municipality in 1876 under the Municipal Act of 1876. It was then managed by a committee, of which the district magistrate was president, and was aided by government with establishment grants. It remained as a municipality for over 130 years though the number of population have been rising with time. Later in 2001, the ministry of local government meeting on declared to turn two divisional headquarters, Barisal and Sylhet to city corporations and passed "Barisal City Corporation Act, 2001". An administrative move was made abolishing the Barisal Municipality as the final step to introduce the administrative body as a city corporation. On 25 July 2002, the municipality was officially upgraded as Barisal City Corporation.

## Administration

The city corporation is run by a joint staff of elected public representatives and government officials. Officials both come from departmental recruitment and the administrative cadre service of the country. The area of BCC is divided into 4 thanas: Kotwali, Kawnia, Bandar and Airport. The thanas are subdivided into 30 wards and 225 mahallas. It is administrated by 30 councilors, 9 woman councilors and the mayor elected in the local government election for a five-year tenure.

## Services

The BCC Government is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city.
| Departments | Services |
| Electricity | Maintenance of road lighting and street lamps. |
| Urban Planning and Development | Development and renovation of roads, drains, canals, bridges, culverts and footpaths etc. |
| Urban Planning and Development | Land development and city beautification. |
| Urban Planning and Development | Urban expansion and development of planned residential areas. |
| Engineering | Granting permission to cut roads for laying gas, water lines. |
| Engineering | Building Design Approval, Contractor Registration, Contractor Renewal, Land Demarcation Certificate. |
| Transportation and Communication | Urban transport system and de-congestion. |
| Transportation and Communication | City traffic control and parking management. |
| Transportation and Communication | Emergency transportation and storage of corpses. |
| Transportation and Communication | Construction and Management of Bus Terminals. |
| Transportation and Communication | Road roller hire, provision of ambulance for sick patients. |
| Waste Management and Cleaning | Solid waste management and street cleaning. |
| Waste Management and Cleaning | Clearing drains and eliminating waterlogging. |
| Waste Management and Cleaning | Mosquito eradication. |
| Health | Management of Matrisadan Hospital and General Hospital Charitable Hospital and Homeo Charitable Hospital |
| Health | Immunization of mothers and children, deworming and conduct of vitamin A+ campaign under EPI programme. |
| Health | Diploma in Midwifery Institute and Management of Health Technology. |
| Registrar | Registration of births/deaths and issuance of certificates. |
| Registrar | Issuance of nationality, inheritance and character certificates. |
| Education | Conducting Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools, Furkaniya Madrasas, Sanskrit Tolls and Kindergartens. |
| Education | Management of computer institutes and technical training institutes. |
| Education | Management of Adult Education and Teacher Training Centres. |
| Education | Conducting theater institutes for healthy development in cultural activities. |
| Water Supply and Sewerage | Clean Water Supply and Sewerage Management in the entire City Corporation. |
| Revenue | New issue/renewal of trade license, change of name and change of ownership. |
| Revenue | Issuance of holding number, change of number, collection of holding tax and reduction of tax, cancellation of holding name etc. |
| Revenue | Allotment of shops owned by the Corporation, transfer of shops, allotment of market shops, lease of huts, maintenance of fixed assets of the Corporation. |
| Security and Law and Order | Coordinating with concerned authorities to ensure city security. |
| Security and Law and Order | Installing and monitoring CCTV cameras. |
| Magistracy | Settlement of cases through arbitration and appellate court proceedings. |
| Magistracy | Mobile court to conduct anti-adulteration campaign. |
| Housing and Public Works | Distribution of residential plots and flats to solve the city's housing crisis. |
| Social Welfare | Celebration of National Days, Annual Donations. |
| Social Welfare | Construction of children's parks to increase children's recreational facilities. |
| Environmental Protection | Controlling climate pollution and tackling the effects of climate change. |
| Environmental Protection | Greening and establishing urban gardens and planting trees. |

## Annual Budget

Barishal City Corporation (BCC) has announced a budget of ৳442 crore (US$36 million) for 2023-24 fiscal year.

## Ward and councillor list

| # | Ward | Councillor | Party | Party |
| 1 | Ward-1 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 2 | Ward-2 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 3 | Ward-3 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 4 | Ward-4 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 5 | Ward-5 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 6 | Ward-6 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 7 | Ward-7 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 8 | Ward-8 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 9 | Ward-9 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 10 | Ward-10 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 11 | Ward-11 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 12 | Ward-12 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 13 | Ward-13 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 14 | Ward-14 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 15 | Ward-15 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 16 | Ward-16 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 17 | Ward-17 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 18 | Ward-18 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 19 | Ward-19 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 20 | Ward-20 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 21 | Ward-21 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 22 | Ward-22 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 23 | Ward-23 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 24 | Ward-24 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 25 | Ward-25 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 26 | Ward-26 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 27 | Ward-27 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 28 | Ward-28 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 29 | Ward-29 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 30 | Ward-30 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| Reserved Women's Councillor |||||
| 31 | Reserved women's seat-1 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 32 | Reserved women's seat-2 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 33 | Reserved women's seat-3 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 34 | Reserved women's seat-4 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 35 | Reserved women's seat-5 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 36 | Reserved women's seat-6 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 37 | Reserved women's seat-7 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 38 | Reserved women's seat-8 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 39 | Reserved women's seat-9 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |
| 40 | Reserved women's seat-10 | Vacant | TBD | TBD |

## List of mayors
### Status

| Name (Birth–Death) | Election | Term of office | Term of office | Tenure | Party |
| Ahsan Habib Kamal (1954–2022) | – | 25 July 2002 | 14 July 2003 | 354 days | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| Mujibur Rahman Sarwar | 2003 | 24 April 2003 | 21 April 2007 | 3 years, 362 days | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| Awlad Hossain Dilu | – | 22 July 2007 | 11 September 2008 | 1 year, 51 days | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| Shawkat Hossain Hiron | 2008 | 11 September 2008 | 15 June 2013 | 4 years, 277 days | Bangladesh Awami League |
| Ahsan Habib Kamal (1954–2022) | 2013 | 15 June 2013 | 8 October 2018 | 5 years, 115 days | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah | 2018 | 31 October 2018 | 9 November 2023 | 6 years, 139 days | Bangladesh Awami League |
| Abul Khair Abdullah | 2023 | 14 November 2023 | 19 August 2024 | 279 days | Bangladesh Awami League |
| Md. Shaukat Ali (Administrator) | – | 19 August 2024 | Incumbent | 212 days | Independent |
The mayor of Barisal City is head of the Barisal City Corporation. The mayor's office is located in Nagar Bhabon. It has jurisdiction over all thirty wards of the city, administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within the city.

## Deputy mayors

The deputy mayor (also known as Panel mayor) is a second-ranking official of city corporation. 3 Panel mayors are appointed from the council member to assist the mayor through voting. The 1st panel mayor with the highest number of votes is appointed as deputy mayor or acting mayor. In the absence of the mayor, the deputy mayor controls all functions of the City Corporation. Other 2 Panel mayors also assist mayor and to oversee major offices within the executive branch of the BCC.
| Serial No. | Post | Name |
| 01 | Panel Mayor 1 | Vacant |
| 02 | Panel Mayor 2 | Vacant |
| 03 | Panel Mayor 3 | Vacant |

## Elections
### Election result 2018

Barisal mayoral election 2018 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | AL | Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah | 1,09,803 | | |
| | BNP | Mujibur Rahman Sarwar | 13,041 | | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 96,762 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,39,151 | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 2,41,959 | | |
| | AL gain from BNP | AL gain from BNP | AL gain from BNP | AL gain from BNP | AL gain from BNP |

### Election result 2013

Barisal mayoral election 2013 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | BNP | Ahsan Habib Kamal | 82,751 | | |
| | AL | Shawkat Hossain Hiron | 66,741 | | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,010 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,49,492 | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 2,11,257 | | |
| | BNP gain from AL | BNP gain from AL | BNP gain from AL | BNP gain from AL | BNP gain from AL |