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The official web page of the BMC.

Created on Jul 16, 1995; last modified on Feb 10, 1998.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Duties

The duties of the Corporation are set out in the Bombay Municipal Act, first passed in 1872, and amended on various later occasions. It is responsible for Greater Bombay. The BMRDA coordinates between the BMC and CIDCO.

The Municipal Corporation is responsible for the creation and maintenance of roads and flyovers, including the cleaning and lighting of roadways. It is supposed to maintain sanitation and health; in this connection it manages hospitals, garbage collection and disposal, the sewerage, and the water supply. As part of its duties related to public health, it is responsible for the prevention of epidemics. The BMC must register births and deaths, and holds authority over all crematoria and cemeteries in the city. It is the office of record for urban property and is also responsible for setting up and enforcing building norms. Its duties include the maintenance of parks and public spaces, including beaches, and the provision of coastal safety in the form of lifeguards at beaches and lighthouse maintenance staff.

Organisation

The jurisdiction of the BMC runs over the full island city: from Colaba in the south to Mulund and Dahisar in the north. It maintains toll stations (check nakas) at these two northern entry points to the city. The Mumbai Port Trust and defence areas, as well as the Borivili National Park are exempt from its jurisdiction. The main administrative offices are in the BMC headquarters opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus.

The city is divided into several municipal ward. Each ward elects a Corporator once every five years. These corporators in turn elect the mayor of Bombay annually. A sherrif is nominated by the chief minister of the state every year. The state government can overrule any decision taken by the Corporation.

Contact Numbers

Divisions

Committees (Incomplete)

History

The Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) was created in 1865 and Arthur Crawford was appointed the first municipal commissioner of Bombay for five years.

Within a year, the Corporation had run up a debt of Rs. 140,000. This lack of financial responsibility continued, until, in 1871, the net deficit stood at Rs. 3,770,000. Concerned citizens, led by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, drafted and supported a Municipal Act, which was passed in 1872.

The Act provided for a Municipal Corporation and a Town Council. Half the members of the BMC and three quarters of the members of the Council were to be elected by the people. The rest were to be government appointees.

The BMC was instrumental in the development of Mahim in 1913, the expansion of the capacity of the Tansa lake in 1916 and 1921, as well as the acquiring of agricultural land around the Vihar lake in 1923 as a sanitary safeguard.

During the freedom movement, the BMC was infiltrated by nationalists who took a consistently anti-government stand. In 1933 the City Improvement Trust was merged with the BMC.