22 April,2026 10:59 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide during her surprise visit at Bandra. (Pic/BMC)
In view of strengthening sanitation efforts across the city, Ashwini Bhide, Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), carried out a surprise early-morning inspection at a Solid Waste Management facility in Bandra West on Tuesday, April 22.
As per the officials, the inspection by the BMC Commissioner was done at the Dharmashala Chowki in the H-West Ward, located at Kherwadi opposite the Government Polytechnic. During the surprise visit, Bhide interacted with sanitation staff, checked their attendance, and verified official registers to assess workforce presence on the ground.
Emphasising the importance of maintaining hygiene standards, the civic chief directed officials to prioritise cleanliness across the ward. Bhide also instructed the teams to ensure effective road sweeping, proper solid waste handling, and regular sanitation of public spaces, including bus stops and surrounding areas.
BMC Commissioner during the visit also called for stronger coordination between various municipal departments across all administrative wards. She stressed that improved inter-departmental cooperation is key to sustaining cleanliness and enhancing overall civic management in Mumbai.
Along with the BMC Commissioner, senior officials, including Deputy Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Kiran Dighavkar, Deputy Commissioner (Commissioner's Office) Prashant Gaikwad, Deputy Commissioner (Zone 3) Vishwas Mote, Assistant Commissioner Dinesh Pallewad, and others, were also present.
The BMC Commissioner's surprise visit underscores the civic body's renewed focus on on-ground monitoring and accountability as part of its ongoing cleanliness drive across the city.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is set to spend Rs 105 crore for fixing potholes on Mumbai's roads ahead of the monsoon season this year - a little more than half the amount spent by the civic body for the same purpose last year, Rs 200 crore, according to official information.
The cost of pothole fixing work has reduced due to the BMC's Rs 17,000-crore road concreting project, which is nearing 75 per cent completion, in comparison to 45 per cent progress achieved during the same time last year. In the past year, the civic body's use of mastic has gone down by 50 per cent.
The work includes two large tenders of Rs 30 crore each for the Western and Eastern Express Highways, seven tenders for roads below nine metres in width and seven tenders for roads above nine metres in width that have not yet been concreted, and a tender for procuring cold mix.
