Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

India's richest municipal corporation has found itself in a logjam. The pandemic has impaired its ability to meet expenses, even though its budget remains unspent year after year. In this series of articles, we will explore the Mumbai civic body’s financial might, the governance and procedural challenges in raising or spending money, and ways to finance expenditure due to the pandemic and the slowing economy. For the past few weeks, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been reporting a severe cash crunch. It has slashed its capital expenditure by Rs 2,500 crore, imposed a 20% cut on its revenue expenditure, and…

Tulip Brian Miranda, a Corporator of Mumbai’s H-East ward's Kalina area, has been running a community kitchen since the enforcement of the lockdown. Every day, she distributes 1,000 food packets to needy families. But when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra government decided to initiate food distribution, Miranda wasn’t consulted about the diversity of her ward. “I was simply asked to inform them what my requirements were,” says Miranda, a member of Indian National Congress party.   As the local area representatives, Corporators are imagined to be a citizen’s first point of redressal over an inaccessible MLA or…

On July 8th, the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai’s figures showed 87,513 COVID positive patients in the city.  59,238 people have shown symptoms and are awaiting test results. Mumbai continues to be the worst-affected in Maharashtra and newer hotspots in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region such as Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli are mushrooming. The government is struggling to ramp up health infrastructure even as complaints of lack of ambulances, beds, and other health facilities mount. Here’s a step-by-step guide on what to do if you are tested positive for COVID-19 in Mumbai:  When to worry: The onset of symptoms is usually between 2…

It is that time of the year again. When it rains, rather pours, in Mumbai ( the Mumbai region has the second highest rainfall in the country after Cheerapunji). And then the blame game begins to divert attention from the flooding of the city, loss of lives and livelihoods, and health issues.  Brihanmumai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) Iqbal Singh Chahal claims that the city is all set to meet the rains with its over 2900-km long storm water drain network -- all desilted and cleaned up, despite the COVID crisis and large-scale labour migration. Chahal announced that BMC has already surpassed…

As yet, there is no Standard Operating Procedure from the Centre or the state on this. But as uncertainty around reopening of schools drags on, at least some private schools in Mumbai have launched online classes to try and complete the syllabus of the current academic year. But the online learning system and the way it is being implemented by schools, is finding little support from parents. According to a survey conducted by the India Wide Parents Association (IWPA), a four-year-old Mumbai-based pan-India parents association, 80% of parents it polled are not in favour of virtual classes for their children.…

As yet, there is no Standard Operating Procedure from the Centre or the state on this. But as uncertainty around reopening of schools drags on, at least some private schools in Mumbai have launched online classes to try and complete the syllabus of the current academic year. But the online learning system and the way it is being implemented by schools, is finding little support from parents. According to a survey conducted by the India Wide Parents Association (IWPA), a four-year-old Mumbai-based pan-India parents association, 80% of parents it polled are not in favour of virtual classes for their children.…

The city that never sleeps has a new, deadly reason to remain awake at nights, as its worst fears about the coronavirus outbreak has come true. Mumbai has reported that the virus has spread to its slums, making it difficult, if not impossible, to break the chain by tracking and isolating the source and its primary contacts. Till March 30th, Mumbai had registered 8 deaths and 126 positive cases, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Positive cases have now been reported from slums in different localities like Worli Koliwada, Ghatkopar, Kalina and Prabhadevi. In Worli Koliwada and nearby Janata…

Mumbai, known for long as the city that never sleeps, is now that in the literal sense too. One of the first decisions that Aaditya Thackeray, the new state cabinet minister of tourism and environment, took to promote tourism, generate employment and revenue was a pilot project that allows select malls and eateries to stay open all day and night. With the experiment on for over a week now, the reaction of citizens and shop owners has been mixed. The criteria to stay open includes commercial establishments in non-residential areas, gated communities with CCTV surveillance, those with parking facilities, security…

Mumbai, known for long as the city that never sleeps, is now that in the literal sense too. One of the first decisions that Aaditya Thackeray, the new state cabinet minister of tourism and environment, took to promote tourism, generate employment and revenue was a pilot project that allows select malls and eateries to stay open all day and night. With the experiment on for over a week now, the reaction of citizens and shop owners has been mixed. The criteria to stay open includes commercial establishments in non-residential areas, gated communities with CCTV surveillance, those with parking facilities, security…

The problem of burgeoning plastic waste isn’t new to Mumbai. According to recent data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India generates 25,940 tonnes of plastic every day with 40 percent of it remaining uncollected. Metropolitan cities --- Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai-- alone contribute 50 percent of this total waste. The uncollected and untreated waste goes into drains, sea and landfills, causing massive land and water pollution. During the popular Ganapati festival in Mumbai last year, after immersion of idols, the total dissolved solids increase by 100 percent. To combat the menace of plastic waste, on March…