Mumbai Civic Administration
The city is administered by the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
(formerly the Bombay Municipal Corporation), with executive power vested
in the
Municipal Commissioner, who is an
IAS officer appointed by the
state
government. The Corporation comprises 227
directly elected Councillors representing the twenty four
municipal wards, five nominated
Councillors, and a titular
Mayor.
The BMC is in charge of the civic and infrastructure needs of the
metropolis. An Assistant Municipal Commissioner oversees each ward for
administrative purposes. Almost all the state political parties field
candidates in the elections for Councillors. The
Mumbai Metropolitan Region
consists of 7 Municipal Corporations and 13 Municipal Councils. In
addition to the
BMC, it includes the Municipal
Corporations of Thane,
Kalyan
- Dombivali,
Navi Mumbai,
Mira-Bhayandar,
Bhiwandi - Nizampur and
Ulhasnagar.
The Greater Mumbai forms two
districts of Maharashtra, with
each district under the jurisdiction of a
District Collector. The
Collectors are in charge of property records and revenue collection for
the
Central Government, and oversee
the
national elections held in the
city.
The
Mumbai Police
is headed by a
Police Commissioner, who is an
IPS officer. The Mumbai Police
comes under the state Home Ministry. The city is divided into seven police
zones and seventeen traffic police zones, each headed by a Deputy
Commissioner of Police. The Traffic Police is a semi-autonomous body under
the Mumbai Police. The
Mumbai
Fire Brigade department is headed by the Chief
Fire Officer, who is assisted by four Deputy Chief Fire Officers and 6
Divisional Officers.
Mumbai is the seat of the
Bombay High
Court, which exercises jurisdiction over the
states of
Maharashtra and
Goa, and the
Union
Territories of
Daman and Diu
and
Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Mumbai
also has two lower courts, the
Small
Causes Court for civil matters, and the
Sessions Court
for criminal cases. Mumbai also has a special TADA (Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities) court for people accused of conspiring and
abetting acts of terrorism in the city.
The city elects six members to the
Lok Sabha and thirty-four
members to the
Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha
(State assembly). Mumbai is headed by mayor
Shubha Raul,
Municipal Commissioner
Jairaj Phatak,
and
Sheriff
Indu Shahani.