AGARTALA, Jan 21 � On the Statehood Day of Tripura today, Agartala Municipal Council was elevated to the status of a corporation, a minister said.
�Not only Agartala Municipal Council has been promoted, 10 other nagar panchayats in the subdivisions were also upgraded,� Tripura Urban Development Minister Manik Dey said.
When Agartala Municipal Council was elevated to the status of a municipal corporation, 10 nagar panchayats became municipal councils to provide better civic services to the people, he added.
Under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya, which were Union Territories, were elevated to the status of full-fledged States on January 21, 1972.
Agartala, now having a population of about 5 lakh is spread over 76 sq km and is the second largest city in northeastern region of the country, after Guwahati.
The Agartala Municipality was constituted in 1871 during the reign of erstwhile king, Maharaja Chandra Manikya (1862-96).
The first British Political Agent, AWB Power was appointed for princely ruled Tripura in 1871 and become the chairman of the Agartala Municipality.
The minister said Prafullajit Sinha and Samar Chakraborty, the incumbent Chief and Deputy Chief of the Agartala Municipal Council, would be the first Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Agartala Municipal Corporation, respectively.
The princely state of Tripura merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949. � PTI
