Sylhet City Corporation
Sylhet City Corporation সিলেট সিটি কর্পোরেশন | |
|---|---|
Emblem of the Sylhet City Corporation | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | July 31, 2001 |
New session started | 19 August 2024 |
| Leadership | |
Vacant since 22 February 2026 | |
Abdul Qayyum Chowdhury since 22 February 2026 | |
Vacant since 19 August 2024 | |
Md. Rejai Rafin Sarkar | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | Vacant seats 56 councillors |
Length of term | Up to five years |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
First election | 12 April 2003 |
Last election | 21 June 2023 |
Next election | TBD |
| Meeting place | |
| Nagar Bhaban, Sylhet | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Sylhet City Corporation (Bengali: সিলেট সিটি কর্পোরেশন - in short: SCC), is a local government authority responsible for administering all civic services in the Sylhet, the city of Bangladesh. The SCC government is elected by popular vote every five years. The corporation is headed by a mayor, who oversees a council consisting of 56 councillors representing different wards of the city. The functions and powers of the SCC are defined under the provisions of The City Corporation act, 2009[1]
History
Urban administration in Sylhet dates back to the British colonial period. The town was first administered as a municipality with the establishment of the Sylhet Municipality in 1878, making it one of the oldest municipal bodies in present-day Bangladesh.
Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Sylhet Municipality continued to function as a pourashava, overseeing local civic administration and urban services. With rapid population growth, urban expansion, and increasing administrative demands, the need for an upgraded metropolitan governance structure became evident.
As part of the government's decentralization and urban development initiatives, the Sylhet Municipality was upgraded to a city corporation in 2001 under the Local Government (City Corporation) Act. Consequently, the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) was officially formed, granting the city enhanced administrative autonomy and expanded responsibilities.
Since its establishment, the SCC has played a central role in managing urban infrastructure, public health, sanitation, transportation, and development planning. The city corporation has also overseen successive expansions of municipal services and administrative wards in response to Sylhet’s growing metropolitan population.
At the 2022 Bangladesh Population and Housing Census, SCC has a population of 532,426 of whom 275,838 are male and 256,474 are female.[2]
Administration
The Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) administers the metropolitan area of Sylhet. The city is governed through 6 metropolitan thanas: Kotwali Model Thana, South Surma Thana, Moglabazar Thana, Jalalabad Thana, Bimanbandar Thana, Shah Poran Thana. These thanas are further subdivided into 42 wards and numerous mahallas. The SCC is responsible for municipal governance and civic services, including water supply, sanitation, waste management, road maintenance, street lighting, public health, and urban development within its jurisdiction.
Functions and Services
The Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) is responsible for administering the city and ensuring the provision of essential infrastructure and public services. Its functions include urban planning, transport management, healthcare, education, waste management, water supply, and security. Through these services, SCC aims to improve the quality of life for residents and promote sustainable urban development.
| # | Departments | Functions / Services |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Office of the Mayor | Executive administration; city governance; supervision of all SCC services |
| 2 | Chief Executive Office | Departmental coordination; service implementation monitoring |
| 3 | Administration And Establishment | HR management; staff recruitment; service delivery monitoring |
| 4 | Finance and Accounts | Budget preparation; financial planning; payment processing; accounts management; internal audit |
| 5 | Engineering | Road-cutting permission; building design approval; contractor registration; land demarcation certificates |
| 6 | Urban Planning and Development | Road, drain, bridge, culvert and footpath development; land development; planned residential areas; city beautification |
| 7 | Electricity | Installation and maintenance of street lights; lamp-post management; city illumination |
| 8 | Transportation and Communication | Urban transport management; traffic & parking control; emergency transport; corpse handling; bus terminal management; road roller & ambulance services |
| 9 | Waste Management and Cleaning | Solid waste collection and disposal; street cleaning; drain clearing; mosquito control; landfill management |
| 10 | Health | Hospital & clinic management; maternal & child immunization; vitamin A campaigns; midwifery and health technology training |
| 11 | Registrar | Birth & death certificates; nationality, inheritance & character certificates |
| 12 | Education | Management of schools, madrasas, Sanskrit tolls, kindergartens, technical institutes; adult education; teacher training; cultural & theatre institutes |
| 13 | Water Supply and Sewerage | Water supply coordination; sewerage management under Sylhet WASA |
| 14 | Revenue | Trade license issuance & renewal; holding tax collection; shop/market allotment; lease and asset management |
| 15 | Security and Law and Order | City security; joint operations with SMP; CCTV installation and monitoring |
| 16 | Magistracy | Arbitration-based case settlement; mobile courts; anti-adulteration drives |
| 17 | Housing and Public Works | Distribution and maintenance of residential plots and flats |
| 18 | Cultural and Social Development | National Day celebrations; charity programs; and children’s park and playground construction & maintenance |
| 19 | Environmental Protection | Pollution control; climate change mitigation; urban greening; tree plantation |
| 20 | Religious Welfare | Support for Eid, Puja, and religious events; Qurbani market permissions; land allocation for religious events |
Annual budget
Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) has announced a budget of ৳925.4 crore (US$76 million) for 2023-24 fiscal year.[3]
Wards and councillors
Sylhet City Corporation is administratively divided into 42 wards. Each ward is represented by one elected councillor, while additional reserved women councillors are elected for groups of wards, as provided under the Local Government (City Corporation) Act.
| # | Ward | Councillor | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ward-1 | Vacant | TBD | |
| 2 | Ward-2 | |||
| 3 | Ward-3 | |||
| 4 | Ward-4 | |||
| 5 | Ward-5 | |||
| 6 | Ward-6 | |||
| 7 | Ward-7 | |||
| 8 | Ward-8 | |||
| 9 | Ward-9 | |||
| 10 | Ward-10 | |||
| 11 | Ward-11 | |||
| 12 | Ward-12 | |||
| 13 | Ward-13 | |||
| 14 | Ward-14 | |||
| 15 | Ward-15 | |||
| 16 | Ward-16 | |||
| 17 | Ward-17 | |||
| 18 | Ward-18 | |||
| 19 | Ward-19 | |||
| 20 | Ward-20 | |||
| 21 | Ward-21 | |||
| 22 | Ward-22 | |||
| 23 | Ward-23 | |||
| 24 | Ward-24 | |||
| 25 | Ward-25 | |||
| 26 | Ward-26 | |||
| 27 | Ward-27 | |||
| 28 | Ward-28 | |||
| 29 | Ward-29 | |||
| 30 | Ward-30 | |||
| 31 | Ward-31 | |||
| 32 | Ward-32 | |||
| 33 | Ward-33 | |||
| 34 | Ward-34 | |||
| 35 | Ward-35 | |||
| 36 | Ward-36 | |||
| 37 | Ward-37 | |||
| 38 | Ward-38 | |||
| 39 | Ward-39 | |||
| 40 | Ward-40 | |||
| 41 | Ward-41 | |||
| 42 | Ward-42 | |||
| Reserved Women's Councillor | ||||
| 43 | Reserved women's seat-1 | Vacant | TBD | |
| 44 | Reserved women's seat-2 | |||
| 45 | Reserved women's seat-3 | |||
| 46 | Reserved women's seat-4 | |||
| 47 | Reserved women's seat-5 | |||
| 48 | Reserved women's seat-6 | |||
| 49 | Reserved women's seat-7 | |||
| 50 | Reserved women's seat-8 | |||
| 51 | Reserved women's seat-9 | |||
| 52 | Reserved women's seat-10 | |||
| 53 | Reserved women's seat-11 | |||
| 54 | Reserved women's seat-12 | |||
| 55 | Reserved women's seat-13 | |||
| 56 | Reserved women's seat-14 | |||
List of mayors
- Status
- Acting Mayor and Administrator
| No. | Portrait | Officeholder (birth–death) |
Election | Term of office | Designation | Political party |
Reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | |||||||||
| 1 | Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran (1952-2020) |
2003 2008 |
12 April 2003 | 18 September 2013 | 10 years, 190 days | Mayor | Bangladesh Awami League | [4] | |||
| 2 | Ariful Haque Choudhury | 2013 2018 |
18 September 2013 | 7 November 2023 | 10 years, 50 days | Mayor | Bangladesh Nationalist Party | [5] | |||
| 3 | Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury | 2023 | 7 November 2023 | 19 August 2024 | 286 days | Mayor | Bangladesh Awami League | [6][7] | |||
| 4 | Abu Ahmad Siddiqui | – | 19 August 2024 | 01 December 2024 | 1 year, 218 days | Administrator | Independent | ||||
| 5 | Khan Md Reja-Un-Nabi | – | 02 December 2024 | 22 February 2026 | 1 year, 113 days | Administrator | Independent | ||||
| 6 | Abdul Qayyum Chowdhury | - | 22 February 2026 | Incumbent | Administrator | Bangladesh Nationalist Party | |||||
Deputies
The deputy mayor (also known as Panel mayor) is a second-ranking official of city corporation. 3 Panel mayors are appointed by vote of councillors. The 1st panel mayor with the highest number of votes is appointed as deputy mayor. In the absence of the mayor, the deputy mayor controls all functions of the City Corporation.
| Serial No. | Post | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Panel Mayor 1 | Vacant |
| 02 | Panel Mayor 2 | Vacant |
| 03 | Panel Mayor 3 | Vacant |
Past elections
Election result 2023
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury | 119,991 | 53.18 | +10.32 | ||
| JP(E) | Nazrul Islam Babul | 50,862 | 22.54 | New | ||
| Independent | Md. Shah Jahan Mia | 28,688 | 12.71 | New | ||
| IAB | Hafiz Maulana Mahmudul Hasan | 12,794 | 5.67 | +4.58 | ||
| Independent | Abdul Hanif Kutu | 4,296 | 1.90 | New | ||
| Zaker Party | Zahirul Alam | 3,405 | 1.51 | New | ||
| Independent | Mushtaq Ahmed Rauf Mostafa | 2,959 | 1.31 | New | ||
| Independent | Salah Uddin Rimon | 2,648 | 1.17 | New | ||
| Majority | 69,129 | 30.47 | +27.40 | |||
| Turnout | 226,859 | 46.51% | 16.88pp | |||
| Registered electors | 487,753 | |||||
| AL gain from BNP | ||||||
Election result 2018
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNP | Ariful Haque Choudhury | 92,588 | 45.92 | −13.88 | |
| AL | Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran | 86,392 | 42.86 | +2.66 | |
| Jamaat | Ehsanul Mahbub Jubayer | 10,954 | 5.44 | New | |
| IAB | Moazzem Hossain | 2,195 | 1.09 | New | |
| Majority | 6,196 | 3.07 | −16.53 | ||
| Turnout | 201,577 | 63.39% | 1.73pp | ||
| Registered electors | 318,138 | ||||
| BNP hold | |||||
Election result 2013
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNP | Ariful Haque Choudhury | 107,330 | 59.80 | New | ||
| AL | Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran | 72,173 | 40.20 | New | ||
| Majority | 35,157 | 19.60 | New | |||
| Turnout | 179,503 | 61.66 | New | |||
| Registered electors | 291,046 | |||||
| BNP gain from AL | ||||||
References
- ^ Sylhet City Corporation Act, 2001।
- ^ Population and Housing Census 2022: Preliminary Report. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. August 2022. p. 10. ISBN 978-984-35-2977-0.
- ^ সিসিকের ৯২৫ কোটি টাকার বাজেট ঘোষণা করলেন মেয়র আরিফ. Dhaka Post (in Bengali). 6 October 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
- ^ "Former mayor of Sylhet City Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran dies at 69". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- ^ "সিলেটের মেয়র হলেন আরিফুল হক". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Retrieved 2021-09-22.
- ^ "Anwaruzzaman takes charge as Sylhet mayor". The Daily Star. 7 November 2023.
- ^ "দ্বিগুণ ভোটের ব্যবধানে আনোয়ারুজ্জামান মেয়র নির্বাচিত". Sylhetview24.com. Retrieved 2023-06-21.