List of municipal corporations in Kerala

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Kerala state is divided into 6 municipal corporations and 87 municipalities for urban governence. [1] Compared to municipalities, municipal corporations have greater administrative authority and financial powers. [2]

Contents

At the state government level, the Local Self Government Department (LSGD) is responsible for policy formulation and administration. The Department of Urban Affairs, functioning under the LSGD, oversees the administration of Municipal Corporations in Kerala. The Department of Urban Affairs with the Director (Urban) as the head functions as the controlling authority of entire Urban Local Bodies in their working. [3]

List of municipal corporations in Kerala
Municipal corporations in Kerala

History

The urban councils of Kerala date back to the 17th century when the Dutch Malabar established the municipality of Fort Kochi. In 1664, the municipality of Fort Kochi was established by Dutch Malabar, making it the first municipality in Indian subcontinent, which got dissolved when the Dutch authority got weaker in 18th century. [4] However, the first modern kind of municipalities were formed in the state in 1866 in Malabar District. In 1866, Fort Kochi municipality was reestablished. Kannur, Thalassery, Kozhikode, Palakkad, and Fort Kochi, which were parts of Malabar District until 1956, were made the first modern municipalities of Kerala on 1 November 1866, according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns act 1850) [5] [6] [7] [8] of the British Indian Empire. The Thiruvananthapuram Municipality came into existence in 1920. After two decades, during the reign of Sree Chithira Thirunal, Thiruvananthapuram Municipality was converted into Corporation on 30 October 1940, making it the oldest Municipal Corporation of Kerala. [9] The first Municipal Corporation formed after the independence of India as well as the second-oldest Municipal Corporation of the state is Kozhikode Municipal Corporation established in the year 1962. [10]

Functions

This section is an excerpt from List of urban local bodies in Kerala § Functions.[ edit ]

The functions of the municipalities are enlisted as schedule appended to Kerala Municipality Act. The functions can be divided into civic functions and development functions in areas of agriculture, industry, health, education etc.

Their mandatory responsibilities include urban planning and building control; protection and maintenance of public places, roads and water bodies; solid and liquid waste management; sanitation, street lighting and public infrastructure facilities; public health and food safety regulation; prevention and control of communicable diseases; registration of births and deaths; environmental protection; and implementation of State and national programmes. [11]

In addition to these essential civic duties, municipalities also undertake general functions such as community mobilisation, awareness activities, disaster relief support and promotion of social welfare initiatives.

They are further entrusted with sectoral development responsibilities in areas such as housing, water supply, education, public health, social welfare, poverty alleviation, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe development, small-scale industries, agriculture, fisheries, sports, culture and disaster management. [12]

Municipal Corporations

Municipal Corporations in Kerala
No.CityYear of formationWards [13] Population (2011) [14] Density/km2Area (km2)DistrictImages
1 Thiruvananthapuram 1940101955,4944,447214.86 Thiruvananthapuram Trivandrum Pattam skykline.jpg
2 Kozhikode 196276609,2145,149118.312 Kozhikode HiLITE City - Mixed Use Development Project in Calicut.jpg
3 Kochi 196776677,3817,13994.88 Ernakulam Kochi International Marina, Bolgatty Island, Kerala, India.jpg
4 Kollam 200056388,2885,31673.03 Kollam RP Mall, Kollam.jpg
5 Thrissur 200056315,5963,111101.42 Thrissur Thrissur city in business.jpg
6 Kannur 201556232,4862,96778.35 Kannur Kannur Skyline 3.jpg

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Local Bodies in Kerala – 2015". Local Self Government Department, Kerala.
  2. ↑ "Functions of LSGIs". LSGD Kerala | തദ്ദേശ സ്വയംഭരണ വകുപ്പ്. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "About The Department". LSGD Kerala | തദ്ദേശ സ്വയംഭരണ വകുപ്പ്. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  4. ↑ M K Sunil Kumar (26 September 2017). "50 years on, Kochi still has a long way to go". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Chronological List of Central Acts (Updated up to 17-10-2014)". Lawmin.nic.in. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Lewis McIver, G. Stokes (1883). Imperial Census of 1881 Operations and Results in the Presidency of Madras ((Vol II) ed.). Madras: E.Keys at the Government Press. p. 444. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  7. ↑ Madras District Gazetteers, Statistical Appendix For Malabar District (Vol.2 ed.). Madras: The Superintendent, Government Press. 1915. p. 20. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  8. ↑ Frowde, Henry (1908–1909). Imperial Gazetteer of India (New ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "Thiruvananthapuram". Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2010. Year of becoming a corporation
  10. ↑ Kozhikode Lok Sabha constituency redrawn Delimitation impact, The Hindu 5 February 2008
  11. ↑ Kerala Municipality Act 1994
  12. ↑ "Kerala Municipality Act, 1994" (PDF). Local Self Government Department, Kerala Government. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Final notification on ward delimitation for urban local bodies". Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "Census of India 2011 – Kerala Urban Local Bodies". Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 26 December 2025.

Sources

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