Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation is the Municipal Corporation responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad, located in North Western part of Karnataka state in India. The organization is known, in short, as HDMC. This civic administrative body administers an area of 213 km2. HDMC consists of 67 elected members from four Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Hubali-Dharwad. Presently the Council is under suspended animantion pending election of new members.There has been a huge demand by people of Dharwad to create a separate civic body and get itself detached by HDMC.Claims are that most of the funds are allocated to Hubli solely.
Overview
The total area under HDMC is 213 km2. The twin cities are currently divided into 82 wards. Each ward elects a corporator. The winning party elects a council of members, who are responsible for various departments. The council members chose the Mayor among themselves. At present, there are sixty seven members in the council. The Commissioner is the highest officer of Municipal Corporate Office, who is responsible for the departments of public works, revenue and tax, water supply, planning and development, fire brigade, health and sanitation, finance and accounts etc. The current Municipal Commissioner is Shri Suresh Itnal while presently the municipal council is under animated suspension pending election of new members.
History
Prior to incorporation of HDMC, both Hubli and Dharwad had their own municipal bodies, namely Hubli Municipal Council which was established on 15 August 1855 under the Government of India Act of 1850. Its membership was fixed at 18, including the President. The Collector of the district functioned as the President, and the members were called commissioners. The government nominated all the members. On the other hand, Dharwad Municipal Council first came into existence on 1 January 1856. The first non-official President of the Council was Shri. S.K. Rodda in 1907, and Shri. S.V. Mensinkai was nominated in the following year. But the credit of being the first elected President goes to Shri. N.G. Karigudari, who took office in 1920. In the year 1962, a unique experiment in urban development was conducted by The Directorate of Municipal Administration, Karnataka by combining two cities separated by a distance of 20 kilometers. Thus Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation was constituted.
Demographics
The population of the twin cities as per provisional figures of Census 2011 is 943,857 and is urban. Hubli-Dharwad's population increased by 22.99% between 1981 and 1991, from 527,108 to 648,298, and by 21.2% between 1991 and 2001. The municipality covers 213 km².
