The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is currently facing a leadership crisis, with fifteen chief engineer positions lying vacant. These positions play a crucial role in overseeing the projects. The role involves managing projects in key departments such as construction proposals, storm water drains, sewage, hydraulics, and roads and traffic.
The situation is further complicated by the lack of junior engineers and sub-engineers. They have been assigned to election duty since February 10. According to reports, the positions are intentionally kept empty. It has been alleged that the BMC is allowing one person to perform the duties of two engineers.
This comes after the BMC commissioner and administrator, Iqbal Singh Chahal, increased the capital expenditure in the budget for 2024–25 by 25.5%, amounting to INR 31,774 crore, for infrastructure and development projects. This has made the availability of engineers more important.
Reports suggest that all 15 chief engineer positions are in leadership positions. According to BMC's rules, promotion to the position of chief engineer happens after two or three years of service as a deputy chief engineer. However, the promotions have not been happening on time.
BMC has also been criticised for not hiring enough engineers. There have been claims that over 800 of the 4,000 engineering positions, including junior and sub-engineer positions, are currently unfilled.
Despite repeated requests for recruitment advertisements over the past two years, the situation has not changed. It has also been reported that the engineers are constantly overworking.
In response to the situation, Chahal has stated that the posts are not filled due to issues with the seniority list and other administrative problems. He has reportedly instructed the Department of Provision Committee to promote fifteen individuals to fill the vacancies.
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