The municipality of Coimbatore was established in 1866 according to the Town Improvements Act of 1865, with industrialist Sir Robert Stanes as its first Chairman. The early days of the municipality were difficult as it had to tackle plague epidemics and earthquakes. In 1934, the municipality elected its first woman Chairman, K. Thankamma Jacob.Justice Party politician R. K. Shanmukham Chetty served as the Vice-Chairman of the municipality from 1917 to 1920. in 1981, Coimbatore was upgraded to a municipal corporation, the third in Tamil Nadu. In 2012, the Corporation won the "Best Corporation Award" from the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Structure
This corporation consists of 100 wards and is headed by a mayor who presides over a deputy mayor and other councillors who represent the wards. The mayor is elected directly through a first past the post voting system and the deputy mayor is elected by the councillors from among their numbers. For administrative purpose the Coimbatore corporation is divided into five zones namely North, South, East, West and Central headed by a chairman. Coimbatore is divided into five broad regions: North, West, Central, South and East. In 2011, the area was expanded to include certain rural parts into the metropolis. The city is surrounded by the mountains on the west, reserve forests on the northern side, the Western Ghats on the western and northern part.
Utilities
The executive wing of the corporation is headed by a Corporation Commissioner. The corporation runs and maintains basic services like water, sewage and roads. The district itself is administered by the District Collector.
Law enforcement
The Coimbatore City Police was formed in 1972 after the bifurcation of the existing Coimbatore Police Force to assist in law enforcement. Coimbatore police commissionerate was formed in 1990. The jurisdiction of the Commissionerate of Police extends to the jurisdictional limits of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation. In 2011, when the limits of the Municipal Corporation were increased, the jurisdiction of the police was also increased to include newly added areas. There are 18 police stations in Coimbatore City, numbered B - 1 to B - 15 along with three "All-Women" Police stations. The CCP has three wings: traffic, law and order, and crime. Each of these wings comes under four zones: North, South, East and West. The District Court is the highest court of appeal in Coimbatore.
