Mumbai: With less than two weeks left for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, civic forums, civil society groups and resident associations across Mumbai released charters this week, clearly defining their expectations of aspiring corporators in their respective wards.
The long-delayed civic polls have intensified public scrutiny on issues ranging from pothole management, road quality, solid waste management, transparency and grievance redressal, residents say, with voters indicating that future corporators will be held accountable. The charters reflect citywide impatience with civic failures that directly impact quality of life.
One such manifesto, issued by Praja Foundation, a non-profit organization working to enable accountable urban governance, and other civil society organizations highlights the steady erosion of ward-level financial autonomy, stating that the share of ward budgets in the overall BMC budget has fallen from 18% in 2021-22 to 11% in 2025-26. Praja’s report has been critical of the civic body’s fiscal priorities, alleging that decades of taxpayers’ savings have been funneled into big infrastructure projects benefiting a limited section of society.
These concerns have found place in ward-level charters; Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA), a citizens’ group, has demanded that the corporators formally pledge not to misuse BMC funds and ensure that the expenditure is for genuine local needs.
Describing his manifesto as a call to action, Praja urged residents to seek written commitments from candidates and move from passive voting to active civic participation, warning that Mumbai “cannot afford another five years of elite mobility at the expense of collective living”.
potholes and road structure
Citizens across Mumbai have consistently drawn the civic body’s attention towards the poor quality of roads, which deteriorate every year during the monsoon and have led to several accidents over the years. With frequent construction and reconstruction of roads, citizens have highlighted the civic body’s apathy towards ensuring pothole-free, motorable roads.
Resident forums have highlighted the need for effective pothole management rather than temporary patchwork repairs, and demanded analysis of shoddy road work, punitive action against those responsible and permanent improvements.
He also pointed to re-digging of newly constructed roads for many utilities. The groups have now demanded that corporators actively push for sustainable, well-maintained road infrastructure.
Reflecting this, the manifesto of the Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA) states: “Ensure pothole-free, motorable roads; provide utility drains along roads to avoid frequent digging; take effective steps to ensure that waterlogging does not occur.”
Dhawal Shah, Founder of Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association:
Potholes are a permanent problem on all roads. Every few weeks huge amounts of taxpayers’ money is spent on temporary repairs that fail at the first sign of rain. Our corporator should intervene to ensure that the roads remain intact for at least one monsoon season. This issue should be taken on top priority.
Rapid spread of illegal hawkers
The lack of pedestrian infrastructure in the city can be gauged from the missing footpaths – they are occupied by flower sellers, owners of temporary food stalls and vegetable vendors, which do not give travelers the opportunity to walk safely. While the recent bus accident in Bhandup drew attention to the dangers of illegal hawkers occupying pedestrian space, the issue has long been a sore spot for Mumbaikars.
We All Connect, an organization of residents of Lokhandwala and Kandivali, has drawn attention to this problem in its charter. “Before voting, think about the pending issues of Lokhandwala and make a choice. The ever-increasing number of hawkers in the township – especially near Lokhandwala Circle,” the forum’s manifesto said.
Similarly, the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association called for “massive action against hawkers occupying footpaths and roads, making footpaths free for pedestrians”.
Santi Shetty, Founder, We All Connect (WAC): We are not against hawkers; We are against illegal hawkers. Legitimate hawkers are entitled to appropriately designated areas. In the absence of regulation, hawkers are seen everywhere, causing serious obstructions to pedestrians and residents, including those trying to park their vehicles. Traffic congestion and illegal hawking are linked. We hope that our elected representatives will solve this problem.
Organization of grievance redressal and citizen forum
There is a lack of an effective grievance redressal mechanism and alternatives to regular meetings of citizen forums with corporators and officials in the concerned areas. This is currently being conducted through social media with ineffective resolutions.
Detailing this, the Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF) in its manifesto said, “BMC should rework the social media grievance redressal mechanism for timely and accountable resolution. Elected municipal councilors should insist on a secure multilingual portal to lodge anonymous complaints.”
Additionally, CCWA has sought quarterly meetings with citizen forums.
The MNCDF said in its manifesto: “Elected municipal councilors should organize monthly citizen forum meetings with the mandatory attendance of ward officers. Unresolved grievances at the civic headquarters should be taken up with the citizens at the monthly meetings of the commissioner of BMC.”
Advocate Trivankumar Karnani, Founder, MNCDF: As advocates of transparency and people-centric governance, we call on every candidate in the upcoming BMC elections to support these commitments and prove that public service is about responsibility, not rhetoric.
traffic management
Civic groups say traffic congestion across Mumbai is a significant civic failure. Residents have attributed this to unplanned road work, frequent digging and lack of coordination between various civic departments, which have turned neighborhoods into bottlenecks, affecting emergency movements and regular commutes alike.
Many civic charters have emphasized that traffic problems cannot be addressed through ad-hoc measures. The CCWA has demanded that the corporators “address the traffic congestion by addressing the failure to implement DP roads as per the development plan (DP) and ensure widening of existing roads”. He highlighted the need to complete the 90-foot road connecting Andheri-Chandivali to JVLR for east-west movement.
Similarly, the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA) has linked the traffic chaos to redevelopment and enforcement lapses, while the WAC’s manifesto states: “The lack of DP road is causing daily traffic problems.”
Mandeep Singh Makkar, Founder, CCWA: There is a growing sense of frustration among our corporators. Critical infrastructure related to transportation is either grossly inadequate or completely absent, and long-standing issues remain unresolved. We need our corporators to do their duty in ensuring this issue is resolved.
Pedestrian Safety and Sidewalks
Footpaths across Mumbai have become increasingly hostile places for pedestrians – broken footpaths, encroachments and poor design have forced residents to walk on the roads amidst rapidly increasing traffic. Civic groups say the failure to protect pedestrian space has made it unsafe to walk every day, especially for senior citizens, children and persons with disabilities.
Several citizen charters issued ahead of the BMC elections have demanded clear changes in the way pedestrian infrastructure is planned and implemented in the city.
For example, the MNDCF has said that the civic body should “prioritize pedestrian safety and accessibility in all forms of urban planning by implementing the pedestrian-first policy in letter and spirit (not just on paper)” and emphasize the creation of “dedicated pedestrian zones, safe crossings and universal accessibility standards”.
Citizen forums have also highlighted the absence of visible pedestrian markings, poorly designed speed breakers and rapid wear and tear of the pavement material.
Reshma Doshi, co-convenor, MNCDF: The city roads are not fit for walking. Getting to the local grocery, walking to an Uber, and crossing the street is a huge challenge. There are many reasons. My vote is for the candidate who will speak on this and make H-West Ward (Bandra-West, Khar) livable.
Solid Waste Management and Sanitation
Overfilled dustbins, unsegregated waste and foul-smelling dumping spots define many areas of the city, leading civic groups to label solid waste management and sanitation as a serious civic failure that needs to be addressed as it impacts health.
Residents point to irregular garbage collection, lack of accountability and poor implementation of rules, which has led to dumping becoming an accepted phenomenon in all wards. The Citizens Charter calls for systemic reforms rather than a cosmetic clean-up campaign. In its charter, the CCWA has demanded that the civic body “ensure 100% segregation of wet and dry waste at source and hold both residents and contractors responsible for non-compliance”, while also emphasizing on regular door-to-door collection without overflow or leakage.
Residents have also highlighted poor maintenance of public toilets, irregular cleaning of drains and accumulation of garbage near water bodies.
Hemal Mehta, president, Santa Cruz East Residents Association: BMC has been urging citizens to segregate wet, dry and e-waste, and residents are making sincere efforts to follow it. However, when all categories of waste are ultimately collected in a single vehicle, the purpose of separation is defeated. We will give our vote to the candidate who promises solutions. They should mediate between us and BMC, but sadly the local representative remained absent for a long time.
combat air pollution
Citizen groups have pointed to uncontrolled construction activity and weak implementation of laws, leading to Mumbai’s worsening air quality index (AQI). He said that despite repeated complaints, dust from construction sites, illegal units and traffic emissions remain largely unregulated at the ward level.
In its civic manifesto, LOCA has called for strict action, saying, “AQI issues should be dealt with strictly, construction of buildings and roads should be allowed only with strict regulation and imposition of fines depending on the area under construction. Fines should be in lakhs, as is the current fine 10,000, there is no hindrance for developers.”
The group has linked deteriorating air quality to laxity in law enforcement against large redevelopment projects.
Similarly, the CCWA has demanded strict action against pollution sources, calling on the BMC to “enact stringent laws to prevent air pollution from illegal kilns and ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants”, which residents say operate with impunity.
Parveen Sanghvi, founder of Friends of Malabar Hill: BMC’s guidelines for developers of building projects regarding AQI remain only on paper. There has been a significant gap in the resolution of this issue over the past three years. We need candidates who will soon become corporators who will act as vigilant watchdogs, ensuring that BMC is held accountable and people’s concerns are taken seriously.
political reaction
Amin Patel, MLA, Congress: We will definitely include all these issues in our manifesto. We are considering the welfare of citizens and curbing air pollution, reducing traffic congestion, 24/7 water supply and many other issues in our manifesto.
Rahul Shewale, former MP and general secretary of Shiv Sena: We have formed a committee, which is working with citizens to understand these issues. The committee has read the citizens’ manifesto to be able to prepare its accurate draft. We will investigate this and ensure that we meet the demands of the citizens.
BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay said, we have been communicating with residents, professionals and NGOs for the last three months to understand their expectations and what Mumbai needs. Once we have a clear picture of what should be of highest importance, we will prepare our manifesto accordingly.
