The 2024 Maharashtra election is not just a crucial determiner for the State but also for Mumbai. This is because it comes at a time when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been disbanded, leaving citizens without corporators to represent their concerns for the past two years.

With no local representation, it isn’t surprising that many candidates have released their individual manifestos, outlining the work they plan to undertake in their constituencies within the city.

But do these manifestos address the challenges Mumbai is facing right now? The city has been struggling with a myriad of issues — huge gaps in the implementation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) rules, poor air quality that is choking the city, major traffic congestion and a lack of innovative ideas to address the ineffective public transportation system.

We look at the promises made by the various political parties in Maharashtra this assembly election, to see whether they plan to tackle some of these issues.         

Coalition manifesto 

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, which includes the Indian National Congress, the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) faction of the Shiv Sena (SS), and the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has released a joint manifesto. In addition to this, both the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have issued their separate manifestos, with a focus on addressing issues concerning Mumbai.

The ruling Mahayuti alliance, consisting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Eknath Shinde (ES) faction of Shiv Sena (SS), and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, has also released its manifesto. Additionally, several individual candidates have issued their manifestos, focusing on addressing specific concerns.

Below are the key promises made by the political parties in Maharashtra, under various broad themes.

Theme 1: Cities and Urban Development 

Planning and development of cities have been a major concern for both coalitions. Mumbai has witnessed rapid, unplanned, and inorganic growth, especially in the extended suburbs, without much thought to providing essential infrastructure. This type of development affects the provision of basic services in the city, including housing, sanitation, and even the availability of drinking water.

The lack of empathetic planning for the city and its residents has been a significant issue, and the disconnect between planning and the city’s ecosystem is evident in the way the city is evolving. Clearly, there is much that needs to be considered here.

Mahayuti manifesto

• Implement the Development Control Regulations (DCR) 2034 in Mumbai to promote comprehensive urban development. 
• Create a robust mechanism to ensure that all open spaces (government and semi-government) within the limits of all municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) remain free from encroachments. 
• Initiate multi-storey automated parking systems in urban areas of Maharashtra, to address parking and traffic issues. 
• Prevent waterlogging issues through a Smart Drainage System in Mumbai and all major cities. 
• Form a Fort Development Authority to preserve and promote Maharashtra’s ancient and historical forts, which play a significant role in its heritage and cultural development.  
• Announce the ‘Vision Maharashtra 2029’, within 100 days of forming the government.   
• Execute town planning precisely by using geospatial technology.  
• Strengthen local self-governance institutions; the ‘Uttamrao Patil Training Institute’ will be established to train public representatives within these institutions.

Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) manifesto

• Establish a ‘State Urban Commission’ to drive eco-friendly, and progressive urban planning. This commission will focus on enhancing the quality of life for urban residents, making cities financially strong and capable of addressing global warming.
• Review the arbitrary and haphazard UDCPR applied across Maharashtra’s cities.  Appropriate steps will be taken to stop the inorganic growth of cities. 
• Initiate programmes to audit each city’s infrastructure capacity and assess future needs for organised and well-planned urban growth. 
• Formulate policies to address urban climate change impacts, such as unprecedented rainfall, flooding and rising temperatures.
• Develop ‘Happy Cities’ across the state through public participation, parks, playgrounds and clean public spaces.
• Foster an accountable and transparent government that actively encourages public participation, involving citizens in the decision-making processes.
• Preserve each city’s unique characteristics and capacity.  
• Create a ‘Town Planner’ position for every municipal corporation, to draft long-term development plans. This would be filled by professionals trained in urban planning. 
• Make the findings from the State Finance Commission and the Action Taken Report public on the government’s website. Publish municipal budgets and audits on the respective websites annually. 
• Conduct local body elections, mandated by the 74th Constitutional Amendment, promptly using a single-member ward system. Form a study group to explore the feasibility of a Municipal Cadre and take necessary actions, if the idea is viable. 

Theme 2: Urban Transport and infrastructure

The public transportation sector has failed to keep up with the times due to deliberate neglect, with successive governments prioritising metro services over other options. The suburban railways and the popular BEST buses together ferry over a crore passengers daily. However, the lack of accessibility and availability of public transportation has pushed people to depend on private vehicles for comfortable commute to work.

MVA manifesto

• Develop a total of 1,000 km metro network by 2024, in Mumbai (MMR), Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Nagpur, and Nashik, revolutionising public transportation systems. 
• Facilitate the seamless use of suburban rail transport, metro, monorail, urban bus services, taxis, rickshaws, and feeder rickshaws in the city. Implement an integrated smart card scheme.
• Make public transportation safe, fast, and comfortable while ensuring it remains environmentally sustainable. 
• Enhance infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, with a focus on making public transport more efficient through technology. 
• Integrate electric vehicles (EVs) into public bus fleets, and improve last-mile connectivity. 
• Adopt a comprehensive approach to reduce road accidents, with better road designs, strict enforcement of laws, and emergency medical services, in line with the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.
• Double the Konkan railway line. 
• Complete the pending work on the Mumbai-Goa highway within a stipulated time frame.

Mahayuti manifesto

• Ensure eco-friendly and affordable travel for Mumbaikars, by adding a fleet of 12,000 EV buses to the BEST service. Introduce the ‘MahaGatiShakti’ initiative, integrating infrastructure projects from various state departments, such as roadways, ports, industrial corridors, and airports, to boost connectivity and competitiveness in Maharashtra. 
• Develop existing bus stations and transform them into bus ports. These will include facilities such as stages to promote local arts, cinemas for Marathi films, and farmers’ markets for local agricultural produce. 
• Create over 5,000 kilometres of modern expressways, like the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the Samruddhi Mahamarg.
• Develop turf facilities underneath Mumbai’s flyovers, making previously unused open spaces available for sports activities. 
• Launch the Vande Metro service to connect Mumbai with nearby cities, significantly reducing travel time and bringing surrounding cities closer to Mumbai. 
• Start a ‘Water Metro’ on the lines of the service in Kochi (Kerala), connecting coastal cities and islands through environment-friendly water routes, by utilising electric boats.

Theme 3: Waste management and sanitation

Mumbai faces many problems in its management of waste, which are exacerbated because of the absence of elected representatives to the BMC. Waste segregation was legally mandated in the Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 in the city, yet residents in many localities do not do source segregation. Because of this, a majority of the waste ends up in landfills. Can the party elected to power reverse the situation?

Read more: MCAP: Initiated in 2022, how effective is plan to mitigate climate change in Mumbai?

MVA manifesto

• Cities aim to treat 100% of sewage by allocating substantial budgets for sewage treatment plants (STPs) and creating policies to reuse treated water.
• Develop plans for fully-equipped public toilets in urban areas.
• Enhance the capacity of existing systems and establish new systems as needed to treat all sewage water by 2029. Declare Maharashtra as an open drainage-free state.
• Implement a comprehensive waste management initiative in Maharashtra, which includes: a. Establish the Maharashtra Waste Management Corporation to oversee and regulate waste disposal and recycling processes statewide. b. Eradicate the mountains of trash by mandating the use of up to 8% plastic waste in road construction through the ‘Rags To Roads’ scheme. c. Convert solid waste into electricity by establishing Waste-to-Energy power plants across the state, starting with five major cities in the first phase and gradually expanding to all major cities.
• Allocate substantial funds for 100% waste processing (including wet, dry, e-waste, bio-waste, and construction waste) with decentralised collection and processing centres.

Mahayuti manifesto

• Reinstate the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Shram Safalya Awas Yojana. Grant homeownership rights to sanitation workers in Mumbai and all urban local bodies.  
• Set up safe, clean and conveniently located public restrooms for women.

Theme 3: Urban Health

Urban health infrastructure has been lacking with huge gaps in healthcare thanks to reducing budgetary allocations forcing people to move towards the unregulated and unaffordable private healthcare network. 

MVA manifesto

• Give free cervical cancer vaccines to all girls aged 9 to 16. 
• Ensure two optional leave days for women employees during menstruation.
• Take strong measures to prevent and eradicate diseases like tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria, dengue, and chikungunya, with provisions for free medicines, increased recruitment in the health department, and more 24-hour clinics. 
• Establish dedicated healthcare services in major cities for lifestyle diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory conditions. 
• Focus on maternal and child health, with expanded vaccination programmes and effective family planning and reproductive health services.
• Extend the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Scheme to cover all diseases, including accidents. Various Health Insurance schemes will be reviewed. Free medicines will be made available in government hospitals. 
• Adopt a policy for universal healthcare rights by strengthening public health services.
• Equip district hospitals with full facilities to ensure easy access to healthcare services.
• Aim to raise the average lifespan in Maharashtra to 77 years while ensuring good health. 
• Implement a comprehensive programme to control the spread of malaria, dengue, chikungunya and tuberculosis (TB). Increase public participation and transparency in healthcare.  
• Gradually raise the healthcare budget to 8% as per national health policy. 
• Increase the number of well-equipped 108 ambulance services to 2,000. 

Mahayuti manifesto

• Strengthen public health facilities to meet the growing demand for healthcare services.
• Increase the number of students in medical, nursing, and diploma in medical laboratory technology colleges in the state.
• Provide free medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh under the Ayushman Bharat and Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana.
• Make affordable medicines available at primary health centres and sub-centres.
• Provide teleconsultation services across Maharashtra.
• Offer free check-ups and medications for lifestyle-related diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
• Organise free check-ups for women and senior citizens every six months at health sub-centres.
• Make women and child hospitals equipped with maternity and newborn health services available across all districts.
• Eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia from Maharashtra by 2047 by: a. Establishing screening centres, and facilities for the examination of pregnant women, and distributing sickle cell identification cards. b. Establishing Sickle Cell Anaemia Research Centres as needed.
• Expand blood supply services in Maharashtra to ensure timely and sufficient blood availability for thalassemia patients and establish dedicated research institutions to recommend modern and effective treatments for thalassemia.
• Achieve a tuberculosis-free Maharashtra and eliminate cataracts by organising free diagnosis and treatment camps monthly in each district.
• Provide free cancer screening facilities at the taluka level and establish state-of-the-art cancer diagnosis laboratories in each district.
• Establish digital de-addiction centres in every district across Maharashtra to help control new-age addictions like smartphones, online gambling, and gaming.
• Include and promote AYUSH treatment methods in Maharashtra’s healthcare system by regulating and promoting Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy, and establishing an independent framework for this purpose.
• Establish a state-level apex institution on the lines of the All India Institute of Ayurveda to promote research, education, and treatment in Ayurveda in Maharashtra.

MUMBAINAMA – MVA’s MANIFESTO FOR MUMBAI

Apart from these promises, the MVA launched a separate manifesto that was focused on Mumbai’s development. Interestingly, the manifesto is called ‘Mumbainama’.

Here is what it promises:      

Theme 4: Urban Housing

Housing continues to be unaffordable for the marginalised, forcing people to live in distant suburbs and subjecting them to long commute for work impacting their health, family lives as well as livelihoods.  The slum rehabilitation houses continue to be delayed, distant, shoddy, lacking maintenance. This makes the living experience worse than in the informal settlements.  

MVA manifesto

• Prioritise affordable housing and essential amenities to improve the quality of life for slum residents. 

Mahayuti manifesto

• Develop all MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) colonies in Mumbai through clusters over the next five years. 
• Achieve a slum-free Mumbai through the effective implementation of the recently announced new housing policy. 

Shiv Sena (UBT) manifesto  

• Provide houses for Dharavi residents with facilities for industries and establish a world-class economic and industrial hub.
• Cancel the Housing Policy of Maharashtra provision for Cluster development in Koliwadas and Gaothans of Mumbai and remove the classification of these areas as “slums”. Provide residents with land rights by publishing the correct and full demarcation extent of Koliwadas and Gaothans. Provide development rights through appropriate and sustainable policy measures to facilitate the community to self-develop. 

Beyond this, many candidates have also brought out their individual manifestos, assuring citizens of projects and works that they would take up if elected to power. Leading the game is Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the BJP candidate from the upmarket Malabar Hill constituency in Mumbai. He has promised the development of a 500-acre green forest along the Coastal Road and the Mahalakshmi race course.

He has also promised protection of the Hanging Gardens by ensuring that the reservoir below the garden is renovated and not demolished. Lodha, who is one of the city’s leading builders, ensures he would simplify rules for redeveloping old buildings, as current regulations are leading to delays and complications for tenants. 

His manifesto also talks about amending existing traffic police provisions to fine residents and instead allow parking along residential buildings after 10 pm as also to ensure that commercial vehicles are parked only in designated spaces. He has also promised to streamline the renewal process for leases of government/collector plots. 

While the various manifestos promise a lot of things, many citizens and civil society groups have been vocal about their expectations from politicians in the run-up to the 2024 assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Their message is clear: they want concrete promises. This has compelled parties and leaders to clearly outline their commitments in printed terms. Citizens, long used to unfulfilled electoral promises, have made it clear that they won’t be taken for a ride this time around.

Also read:

• NC in my name stands for no corruption: Shaina NC, Shiv Sena candidate from Mumbadevi
• Walkability and affordable transit ignored as elections focus on big projects in Mumbai