Kollam Municipal Corporation

History

Kollam, known historically as Quilon, was an ancient trade hub and one of the largest port cities in Asia. The population density of the coastal belt of Kollam is very high compared to any other city in the state. After the constitution of Kochi as a corporation in 1967, there were intense demands to upgrade the densely populated Kollam City into a city corporation. As a result, on 1 October 2000, Kollam Municipality was upgraded by the Kerala Government to a Municipal Corporation.

The city population of Kollam increased substantially from 139,852 in 1991 to 346,013 in 2011. In 1991, the Vadakkevila, Sakthikulangara, Eravipuram and Kilikollur panchayats were merged with Kollam City. As a result, the area run by the municipal corporation increased from 18.48 square kilometres (7.14 sq mi) to 58.18 square kilometres (22.46 sq mi). Later in May 2015, Thrikkadavoor panchayath is merged with Kollam city and total population of the city became 397,419 with total area of 73.03 square kilometres (28.20 sq mi).

Structure

The City Corporation of Kollam has a 55-member council headed by a Mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor. On an average, every ward consists of a population of around 7,000. Each ward is represented in the municipal council by an elected councilor. The Kerala Municipalities (KM) Act, 1994, governs all functions in KMC. Also there are 8 standing committees in the corporation for the ease of smooth governance of the city. Each and every standing committee is headed by an elected councilor and he will become the chairman of the particular standing committee. The standing committees are:

Zones

For the ease of administration, Kollam Municipal Corporation is divided into 6 zones. There are zonal offices in each zones of the corporation.

In 2014, Mrs. Prasanna Earnest, the then Kollam Mayor, had been selected as the Best Lady Mayor of South India by the Rotary Club of Trivandrum Royal

Functions

As per the Kerala Municipal Act of 1994, the Government of Kerala transferred powers and functions to Local Self-Governments in the year 1995, along with institutions, offices, and functionaries. As per the act, 18 functions are maintained by the Municipal Corporation

Mayors of Kollam

Chinnakada Underpass

The Chinnakada underpass is a public road infrastructure project for the city of Kollam as part of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to ease traffic congestion at Chinnakada, the city CBD of Kollam. The presence of an existing Railway over bridge and three close intersections with heavy traffic limits the option for traffic management measures including junction improvement. That caused the authorities to think about this underpass at Chinnakada. Chinnakada is a complex junction where roads from Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Downtown, Sengottai, Ashramam, Kollam Beach and the City bus stand road meets.

Preliminary design prepared by NATPAC(National Transportation Planning and Research Centre) for the underpass involved the acquisition of 0.08 hectares (0.20 acres) of government land on a temporary basis. The height of the road passage above the underpass was increased to 5.5 metres (18 ft) from 5 metres (16 ft) to facilitate movement of modern container trucks through the underpass. Underpass has been thrown open to the public by the end of May 2015.

Marine Aquarium at Kollam Beach

On 22 June 2014, construction work started on a marine aquarium at Kollam Beach, which is first of its kind in the state of Kerala. The Harbour Engineering Department is constructing the aquarium on the eastern side of the beach on behalf of Kollam Corporation. The foundation stone for the project was laid in March 2014 and it is expected to be complete by December 2014. The single storey aquarium comprises 40 large tanks to hold a diverse collection of marine life and provides an added attraction for visitors to Kollam beach.