Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality


Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality is the civic body that governs Uttarpara Kotrung and its surrounding areas in Srirampore subdivision of Hooghly district, West Bengal, India. It's the oldest municipality in the state of West Bengal.

History

Uttarpara Municipality was founded on 14 April 1853 after the second appeal by zamindar Joykrishna and others for a municipality to the Government of Bengal, the first appeal made by them in 1851 was rejected. Uttarpara was only the second town in Bengal to voluntarily adopt the Municipal Act of 1850 Sec XX16 – Serampore was the first town to adopt it. However, while in Serampore European residents pushed the issue through, in Uttarpara it was the zamindar Joy Krishna Mukherjee who played the pivotal role and made Uttarpara Municipality the first in the state by establishing it in 1853, 12 years before Serampore Municipality and 23 years before Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Kotrung was merged with Uttarapara Municipality in 1964 and it was renamed Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality. Makhla was merged with Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality in 1991.

Geography

The boundaries of Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality are as follows: Konnagar Municipality to the north, Hooghly River to the east and Bally Khal to the south. Earlier the railway track was the western limit, but subsequently areas such as Makhla and Hindmotor have been added beyond the railway track.
Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality covers an area of 11.75 sq km and has a population of 159,413.
In 1981, 27.47% of the total population formed main workers and 72.53% were non-workers in Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality and 37.98% of the total main workers were industrial workers. This may be interpreted as follows: although industrial activities are prominent in the municipal areas of the region, the major portion of the population is commuters and migrants find employment in the area.

Healthcare

Uttarpara General Hospital, with 204 beds, Female Vagrants Home and primary health centre with 5 beds at Bhadrakali are located in the Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality area.

Elections

In the 2015 municipal elections for Uttarpara Kotrung municipality Trinamool Congress won 15 seats, CPI 4 seats, Congress 2 seats and Independents 3 seats.
In the 2010 municipal elections for Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality Trinamool Congress won 22 seats, CPI 1 seat and Independent 1 seat.
About the 2010 municipal elections, The Guardian wrote, "Today's municipal elections are unlike any for decades: the Communists, who have held West Bengal's main towns almost without a break since the 1970s, are facing disaster… This time defeat is likely to be definitive and could signal the beginning of the end for the Communist Party of India-Marxist."

Wards

Details of the wards, with 2015 municipal election results, are as follows:
Ward NoNeighbourhood1Total ElectorsSeat TypeCouncillorParty
1Kotrung3,647GeneralPranab BagCPI
2do5,385WomanPampa DasTrinamool Congress
3do4,946SCMalay BiswasCPI
4do5,200GeneralPrabir Kangsabanik CPI
5do3,583GeneralSudhir Ranjan DasIndependent
6do4,531WomanPutul Rani GhoshTrinamool Congress
7Kotrung, Bhadrakali10,858GeneralRatna Singha RoyTrinamool Congress
8Bhadrakali3,876GeneralTapash Mukherjee Trinamool Congress
9do4,963WomanMitali BejTrinamool Congress
10Uttarpara6,529GeneralDipak KunduTrinamool Congress
11do4,769GeneralAmitava MukherjeeIndependent
12do3,957WomanMousumi BiswasTrinamool Congress
13do5,015GeneralNarayan Chandra MitraCongress
14do4,122GeneralUtpaladitya BanerjeeTrinamool Congress
15do4,961WomanSusmita Sarkar CPI
16do3,961GeneralSumit Chakraborty Trinamool Congress
17do5,219GeneralSubrata MukherjeeTrinamool Congress
18do3,574SC WomanAnjali PatraTrinamool Congress
19do5,529WomanAditi KunduTrinamool Congress
20Makhla4,984GeneralIndrajit Ghosh Trinamool Congress
21do7,380GeneralKhokan MandalIndependent
22do6,497WomanDebi ChakrabortyTrinamul Congress
23do6,334GeneralDilip YadavTrinamool Congress
24Hindmotor1,519GeneralKamakhaya Narayan SinghCongress

This is a broad indication of the neighbourhood covered, not a full description.