Bombay Municipal Corporation
The Bombay Municipal Corporation was created in 1865 with
the appointing of the Municple Commissioner, Sir Arthur Crawford. The Corporation
was responsible for pulling down the fort wall, building new roads, drainage
systems and housing and also helped provide better wat
er
supplies. They also tried to create social consciousness amongst home owners
who refused to create toilet blocks in their houses in order to alleviate
the terrible sanitation problem. In 1888 it was declared the supreme governing
body of the city, with Municipal Commissioner as chief executive. However,
with the development of the City Improvement Trust (CIT)
in 1898, the Corporation began to become less important. In 1909 they developed
a citywide development policy. Prior to this agencies such as the Bombay
Port Trust and Railway independently constructed what they needed, not necessarily
integrating the whole city into their plans. However, the policy still maintained
the idea of segregating the residential areas of Bombay by income and class
because the Corporation was still being influenced by the upper class businessmen.
In 1933 it merged with the CIT, but it has since rebounded and still exists
today. In 1954 it was the governing body which undertook slum
clearance in Mumbai.
The Bombay Municipal Corporation Today
The Municipal Corporation is responsible for watching and
controlling the executive Government. It is headed by the Commissioner,
who is a government appointee for a renewable term of three years. It also
consists of citizen representatives who are elected for a term of five years
on the basis of adult franchise. Since 1952 it has been purely an elected
body.
Physical | Industry
| Planning | Slums
| Transportation | History
| Mumbai Home | Population
| Links | References
| Maps
World
Urbanization Home | Macalester
Home | E-mail me