The Largest Municipality

Mankind has always been fascinated by higher achievements. The motto of the Olympic Games has been ‘Citius altius, fortius’ that is faster, higher and stronger in Greek! While the winner of the 100 metre sprint in Olympics is called the ‘World’s fastest man’, the weightlifter who lifts the maximum weight is called the world’s strongest man! Thus, for those working in the municipal sector, it is always interesting to know as to which is the largest municipality in their country and in the world! The choice is easy within a country. The census figures give a clear idea as to which city has the largest population. A Census within a country uses the same definitions and parameters for giving the populations of municipalities. However, international comparisons are difficult since the pattern of municipalities is different from country to country. In China, the Federal Municipalities, i.e. the largest cities are administered directly by the federal government and they are actually similar to Union territories in India. Chongqing Municipality has an area of 24000 sq km that is comparable to some of the largest districts in India. Beijing Municipality has an area of 16000 sq km, which is similar to Pune district. Thus, the Chinese Municipalities have a large rural area surrounding them and they are not strictly urban units. For the purpose of this article, population (and not the area) of the Municipalities would be considered as the parameter to determine their largeness and differences in the character of municipalities within different countries would be ignored.

India: Municipalities

In India, the National Census is held every ten years in the first year of the new decade and thus the populations of different cities are readily available. The Census figures clearly list the populations of the Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Cantonment Boards and the Village Panchayats. The Census also lists populations of Census towns, which are large villages with urban characteristics, which do not have a municipal body. Thus, there is little scope for an argument as to which Municipal Corporation is larger than the other. Of course, the Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils are created under respective state laws. Some states go in for large Municipal Corporations by merging neighbouring urban areas while some others keep the individual identities. The following table shows the population of the ten largest Municipalities in India as per the 2011 census. It is to be noted that Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been trifurcated after 2011 and Chennai Municipal Corporation’s area has increased making it Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation. The population of the respective urban agglomeration is of course, higher in all cases. Here the 2011 census figures for the Municipal Corporations have been taken into account.

1. Greater Mumbai (MCGM)
   Thus, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), whose boundaries have remained unchanged since 1958, continues to be the largest Municipal Corporation in India. The growth rate of its population is relatively lower as compared to the other cities, mainly because its area is not expanding. In fact, the population in Mumbai City district (the original core) actually declined during the 2001 to 2011 period. This could be because some slum-dwellers and tenants moved out of the city since affordable housing became available in the suburbs and elsewhere. The Corporation is generally considered to have three parts, the Mumbai city, which is a separate revenue district (Mumbai City District), with many leasehold lands; the western suburbs, which are serviced by the suburban trains of the Western Railway and the Eastern Suburbs, which are serviced by the suburban trains of the Central Railway. The suburbs constitute one revenue district called the Mumbai Suburban District (MSD). The following table compares the populations of MCGM and MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) as per the last three censuses.

1. Delhi (MCD)
   MCD is unique in the country since it has both urban and rural areas. The Second Schedule to the MCD Act makes it clear that at the time of formation of MCD, four Municipal Committees, five Notified Area Committees and the Delhi District Board were merged to form the MCD. Thus MCD was both the Municipal Corporation and the Zilla Parishad for Delhi. The 2011 Census shows almost one hundred census towns in Delhi with a combined population of about 50 lakhs.
   The largest of these census towns were Kirari Suleman Nagar (2.83 lakhs), Karawal Nagar (2.24 lakhs) and Bhalswa Jahangirpur (1.97 lakhs). These were not part of MCD at the time of 2011 census. It is true that the New Delhi Municipal Council (2.57 lakhs) and the Delhi Cantonment Board (1.10 lakhs) have tiny populations as compared to the MCD’s. However, the MCD ( Pop: 1.10 cr.) remained much smaller than NCT of Delhi (Population: 1.67 cr.) largely because of the rural areas that are census towns. These were not part of the MCD. Although the District Board was merged in MCD, the Village Panchayats continued to exist. The last elections to Village Panchayats were held in 1983. During 2012, MCD has been trifurcated into North Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi Municipal Corporations. However, it appears that the Village Panchayats are not still abolished and merged in the three Municipal Corporations. During May 2017, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Vijendra Gupta urged the Lt. Governor Anil Baijal to bring in a Notification declaring 89 villages in the Capital as urbanized villages (The Hindu, May 12, 2017).
   However, this would require an Amendment to the Municipal Act. Unless it is done, even the 2021 Census will show a large number of Census towns out of the three Municipal
   Corporations.
2. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)
   The Hyderabad and Secunderabad Municipal Corporations were merged in 1955. More recently, the boundaries of the Municipal Corporation were increased during 2007 to include 12 neighbouring municipal councils and 8 village panchayats. With this expansion in area, Greater Hyderabad became the third-largest municipal body in India.
3. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP)
   Bengaluru also increased its area in 2007 by incorporating 7 municipal councils, one town council and 111 villages, thus becoming the fourth-largest urban local body in the country. At some places, the population of Bengaluru is shown more than Hyderabad’s since an outgrowth (O. G.) of about 18 lakhs is shown adjacent to BBMP. However, the web-site of the BBMP itself accepts that it is the fourth largest municipal corporation in the country.
4. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC)
   Ahmedabad is the largest urban body under the old Bombay provincial Municipal Corporations Act. It is the smallest of the seven mega-cities (Cities with a population of 50 lakhs or more) in India and most of its agglomeration growth is included within the municipal corporation.
5. Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation (GCMC)
   During 2011, fifteen municipalities were merged in Chennai Municipal Corporations constituting the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation. Population of Greater Chennai is now comparable to Greater Hyderbad or Bruhat Bengaluru. However, the exact figures would be known only after the 2021 census. Till then we have to go by the Census Report of 2011.
6. Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)
   Kolkata Municipal Corporation remained relatively smaller because the metropolitan area includes three other Municipal Corporations namely Howrah, Bidhannagar, Chandannagar and also 37 municipalities. This is why, although Kolkata Urban Agglomeration is the third-largest in the country, the Kolkata city itself remains smaller.
7. Surat Municipal
   Corporation (SMC)
   With incorporation of Hazira township, Surat has become the third-largest Municipal Corporation in western India, after Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
8. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)
   Pune’s major industrial area, Pimpri-Chinchwad was established as a separate Municipal Corporation in 1983. This meant that the Pune Metropolitan area has two large corporations, along with smaller Cantonment Boards and Municipal Councils. The combined population of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad is more than Surat’s but less than Ahmedabad’s.
9. Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC)
   The capital of Rajasthan is the tenth-largest Municipal Corporation in India by population, ahead of Kanpur
   and Lukhnow.

International Municipalities

International comparisons are difficult because the way Municipalities are constituted differs from country to country. For example, China’s federal municipalities have huge rural areas as part of the municipality. The City Mayors list the following ten Municipalities as the largest in the world.
Karachi and Dhaka appear bigger than Mumbai because the surrounding urban areas have been merged into a single entity. If the urban agglomeration of Mumbai is defined as one super municipality, it would be bigger than Karachi or Dhaka.

The census figures give a clear idea as to which city has the largest population. A Census within a country uses the same definitions and parameters for giving the populations of municipalities. However, international comparisons are difficult since the pattern of municipalities is different from country to country

International: Urban Agglomeration

Different countries constitute municipalities with somewhat different parameters. This is why the concept of continuous urban agglomeration (UA) assumes importance. The top ten urban agglomerations, according to City Mayors, are listed below. An urban agglomeration is a continuous urban sprawl without any rural areas in between. China’s federal municipalities have vast rural areas surrounding them. This is why none of the Chinese cities figures in the top ten urban agglomerations. Shanghai is at serial number 18 while Beijing figures at serial number 21. Although Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai is ranked tenth in the list of Municipalities, it is at number two among the urban agglomerations since it is surrounded on all sides by municipal corporations of Mira-Bhayandar, Thane, Navi Mumbai etc. Delhi figures at serial number three in the list of urban agglomerations, while Kolkata is at serial number 11. Thus, Kolkata Urban Agglomeration is the third-largest in India although Kolkata Municipal Corporation ranks at number 7.