In a historic moment for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the agency has appointed Archana Achrekar as the head of the engineering services and projects department, the first woman to take this post in the BMC’s 100+ year history.
The BMC specified that this is the first time the agency’s inception in 1888 that a female engineer has been appointed as the director. Achrekar now comes third in terms of BMC’s top officials, only behind the Commissioner and the Additional Municipal Commissioner.
Achrekar has worked at the BMC for 20 years and has been posted in various departments including roads and other civic infrastructure projects. Previously, she was appointed as the Chief Engineer of BMC’s Engineer Department.
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The civic body recently appointed Suprada Marathe to the post of Deputy Municipal Commissioner of the Environment Department. At the time, Marathe was the first woman engineer to be appointed for such a post.
It’s evident that women have made tremendous inroads in the legislative processes and are heading some crucial departments in state and civic posts. Achrekar will now lead key BMC projects like solid waste management, roads, bridges, stormwater drains, and so on.
The BMC has resumed working on infrastructure projects in Mumbai, while it also managed to complete some of the pre-monsoon works in the city. Further, the authorities recently conducted drone disinfection of key areas to avoid the spread of diseases like malaria during the monsoons.
Separately, in order to deal with the menace of potholes in the city, the BMC launched a WhatsApp helpline service which gave citizens access to contact details of engineers from each of the 24 wards. The civic body promised a resolution within 48 hours of receiving a photo complaint via WhatsApp.
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