Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

History

The Municipal administration in the erstwhile Bombay existed since 1805. During this period the civic administration was vested in a Court of Petty Sessions. Up to the end of 18th century the administration of Bombay was conducted by the President and Council directly. However, since the Municipal administration had been inefficient, multiple efforts were undertaken by the British administration. The first major change came through in the year 1865 with a Municipal Corporation being established as a Body Corporate and Sir Arthur Crawford was appointed as the first Municipal Commissioner.

Thereafter in 1872, after enactment of the Bombay Act No. III of 1872, a regular Corporation was established consisting of 64 elected Corporators who were the rate (tax) payers with the right to vote being restricted to the tax payers only. Sir Pherozeshah Mehta was instrumental in the drafting of the 1872 Act which led to the establishment of the Corporation as seen today. Sir Pherozeshah served as a Municipal Commissioner in 1873 and served as Chairman in 1884–86, and President in 1905 and 1911. Fondly called as the Father of Municipal Government in Bombay, a large statue of Sir Pherozeshah was erected in 1923 in his memory and respect and adorns the Municipal Corporation Building.

The British Administration the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 which streamlined the operations of the Corporation by way of better administration and by providing proper responsibilities to its representatives. The Act, with some amendments continue to be in force till date.

Administration

The BMC is headed by an IAS officer who serves as Municipal Commissioner, wielding executive power. The Municipal Commissioner is one of the authorities under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. The Municipal Commissioner is head of Executive Wing under section 54 of Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. The Municipal Commissioner is appointed by Government of Maharashtra under section 54 of Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. The Municipal Commissioner is responsible for developing & maintaining civic infrastructure of the city like water supply, roads, storm water, drainage and efficient delivery of various services to the citizens of Mumbai. The Municipal Commissioner deputes various departments to the Additional Municipal Commissioners, Deputy Municipal Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners and various heads of Department in discharge of his functions. The Municipal Commissioner is assisted by Additional Municipal Commissioners, Deputy Municipal Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners.

As of June 2008, all administrative business in the BMC was conducted in Marathi, a decision that sparked controversy, following which the BMC eased its stance and began accepting forms in English.

After the term of the present Corporators expired in March 2022, the State Government appointed the Municipal Commissioner, Iqbal Singh Chahal, as the Administrator of the Corporation.

He was replaced by Bhushan Gagrani as the next Municipal Commissioner in 2024.

Legislature

In order to make the administration of the city convenient, it has been divided into seven zones. Further, these seven zones have 3 to 5 wards each. In total, Mumbai has been divided into 24 administrative wards that are ordered alphabetically from Ward A to Ward T. The 24 administrative wards are further divided into 227 civic electoral wards or constituencies. The smallest of the 24 administrative wards is the B-Ward with only 3 electoral wards while the P North-Ward is the largest with 16 electoral wards.

Every electoral ward is led by a Corporator. The Corporator is the in-charge of the electoral ward and is responsible towards its development in general.

As is the case with Legislative Bodies, the Elections for electing the Corporators is held every 5 years. The previous elections were held in 2017. The 2017 elections was the first time 31 candidates contested from a single ward (164). Raghvendra Singh was one of the youngest independent candidate at age 21 to fight the election. Harshad Karkar from Shiv-Sena was the youngest candidate at age 23 to win the Elections in 2017.

The Corporators among themselves are to elect a Mayor who is the First Citizen of Mumbai. Mayors have two distinct roles- the decorative role of representing and upholding the dignity of the city and the functional role of presiding over the deliberations of the Corporation. As the presiding authority at the Corporation Meetings, his/her role is confined to the four corners of the Corporation Hall. The decorative role, however, extends far beyond the city and the country to other parts of world. This is seen whenever a foreign dignitary or a V.V.I.P. visits the city and the State Government invites the Mayor to receive the honoured guest on behalf of the Citizens. Thus, when the Mayor receives or sees the guest off, he does it on behalf of all the citizens of Mumbai. Similarly, when the Mayor accords a civic reception or presents a civic address to a Monarch, or a President or a Prime Minister of any country, he does so in the name of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation and the citizens of Mumbai. In such situations, the Mayor is seen as the First Citizen. Mayor is also given a place of prominence at Civic, Government and other social functions. The term of the office of the Mayor is 2.5 years.

Current members

The 227 wards of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and their councillors are listed below in the serial wise order. The next elections are scheduled on 15 January 2026 with results on 16 January 2026.

Finances and Revenue sources

BMC is one of the richest municipal corporations in Asia. In ten years, the Corporation allocated ₹2.19 lakh crore for the city, higher than the 10-year budget of some Indian states. The BMC Annual Budget of ₹52,619.07 crores for the year 2023-2024 was the first instance that the budget estimate for the BMC to cross ₹50,000 crores in its history.

Controversies and criticism

The BMC has a history of corruption and incompetence, with several officials charged under Prevention of Corruption Act but never prosecuted.

The BMC has been criticized for corruption and incompetence over filling potholes on several major roads, besides not being able to build pothole free roads. Every year, shoddy work done by BMC has led to potholes appear and cause significant impact to traffic flow. Despite requests by Mumbai Police to tackle the issue, the BMC has repeatedly ignored them, forcing officers to take matters into their own hands. The police officers have been involved in this have received praise, who themselves have criticized the BMC for their lacklustre attitudes.

The BMC has been censured for not providing infrastructure for bicyclists, as well as demolishing existing tracks which were constructed "illegally". Due to insufficient infrastructure, bicyclists face severe safety hazards, as several citizens utilize bicycles for short commutes. Furthermore, the BMC has collaborated with Mumbai Police to collect fines from bicyclists if riders are found pedaling on certain prohibited roads and flyovers within the city limits, which is illegal as bicyclists cannot be penalized under the Motor Vehicles Act.

Several officers of BMC have been involved in demanding bribes from the general public and have also been found to be drinking liquor on duty while misbehaving with the complainants and activists who come to get their issues resolved. Following several complaints, the anti-corruption bureau has been involved in trapping and booking several BMC officials for accepting bribes. The BMC has also faced flak and ire from residents for not taking action against hawkers and illegal encroachments in lieu of bribes collected by middlemen who cut deals with BMC officials on the behalf of these entities, which impacts safety of pedestrians as they are forced to walk on roads.

On 19 July 2017, Malishka Mendonsa, a popular radio jockey of Red FM, released a parody video on YouTube targeting BMC for incompetence in dealing potholed roads. In response to the video, the BMC and Shiv Sena slammed her and sent a notice for defamation with a penalty of Rs 10,000. As a result of the notice, several political parties criticized the BMC and Shiv Sena for intolerance towards criticism, as 2 Shiv Sena corporators sent a notice of Rs. 500 cr (Rs. 5 billion) against the RJ and Red FM. Further, BMC Officials conducted checks at her residence and offices in an attempt to intimidate her. Then mayor Kishori Pednekar also came in crosshairs with the RJ for unfairly targeting the BMC for potholed roads. Malishka made another parody video against the BMC and released it on 17 July 2018, describing the incapability and pathetic conditions of Mumbai's infrastructure in the monsoons.

The BMC has faced ire from citizens as well as media personnel for serving the political elite on several occasions, especially the ruling party Shiv Sena. Following actress Kangana Ranaut's criticism of Uddhav Thackeray and his Government for mishandling the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in September 2020, the BMC demolished a portion of her house on the orders of Shiv Sena leaders; following the demolishion, the Bombay High Court criticized the BMC and ruled in her favour, noting that BMC acted with malice and ordered the BMC to pay compensation to Ranaut.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the BMC allegedly granted contracts for procuring medical kits to Sujit Patkar, a close aid of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, which led to investigation that uncovered a big scam. Former mayor Kishori Pednekar was also found to be involved in the scam.

The BMC has faced outrage and widespread condemnation for incompetence and negligence by the public and media during the reconstruction of Gokhale bridge. In February 2024, following completion of the construction, road users who started commuting on the bridge saw that there was a huge gap in linking the bridge to the Barfiwala Flyover - the previous bridge was linked to this flyover. Following criticism and social media reels from the general citizens, the BMC issued a press statement and said that it never intended to connect the two flyovers in its first phase of reconstruction.

On 13 May 2024, a large hoarding in Ghatkopar region collapsed on a fuel station, killing 17 and injuring 74; two of the dead were relatives of actor Kartik Aaryan. An investigation revealed that the hoarding was illegal, although it was approved by BMC engineers, which sparked accusations of corruption, bribery and incompetence. A special investigation team was appointed in the aftermath, which detained and charged the owner of the hoarding Bhavesh Bhinde and the BMC officials who approved it.

In April 2025, the BMC faced massive protests from the Jain community, after a 90 year old Digambar Jain temple was allegedly demolished, when prayers were going on. The Bombay High Court intervened and put a stop order against further demolition, and the BMC transferred the ward officer for Vile-Parle, where the temple was located. Allegations of bribery were stated after a restaurant near the temple wanted to expand but was not able to do so due to restrictions.

Revenue

Revenue from taxes

Following is the Tax related revenue for the corporation.

• Property tax.
• Profession tax.
• Entertainment tax.
• Grants from Central and State Government like Goods and Services Tax.
• Advertisement tax.

Revenue from non-tax sources

Following is the Non Tax related revenue for the corporation.

• Water usage charges.
• Fees from Documentation services.
• Rent received from municipal property.
• Funds from municipal bonds.

References

References

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