A strong objection was raised by the Municipal Engineers’ Association (MEA) of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) against the deputation of 400 engineers as liaison officers for the upcoming World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025. The summit, which has been scheduled to take place at the Jio World Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) from May 1 to May 4, is being promoted as a global platform to encourage innovation and collaboration in the music and entertainment industry. It is being organised as a central government initiative.
The concern was formally communicated through a letter addressed to BMC Commissioner and state-appointed administrator Bhushan Gagrani. In the letter, it was stated that out of the 500 liaison officers appointed by the civic body for the summit, approximately 400 were engineers currently engaged in critical pre-monsoon works across the city.
It was pointed out by MEA that these engineers were already occupied with essential infrastructure projects such as road concretisation and desilting, both of which form the core of Mumbai’s annual monsoon preparedness drive. It was also mentioned that these projects are regularly monitored by the municipal commissioner himself, making them high-priority assignments. The association stressed that pulling engineers away from these duties for an event would severely affect the timeline and quality of work expected before the onset of monsoon.
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Additionally, it was highlighted that more than 50 per cent of sanctioned engineering posts in BMC remain vacant, resulting in an increased burden on existing staff. Several engineers, it was claimed, are handling dual or even triple responsibilities to keep up with the ongoing civic works. The deputation to WAVES 2025 was therefore described as a misallocation of technical resources for tasks that are non-technical and administrative in nature.
A request for cancellation of the engineers’ appointments as liaison officers was made by the MEA in the same communication. It was argued that such roles could be managed by officials from administrative or clerical departments without disrupting essential public works. Furthermore, a warning was issued that the engineers’ union would not be held accountable in the event of an emergency during the monsoon if the decision to divert technical staff was not reversed. Responsibility for any adverse consequences was placed squarely on the civic administration.
Through this protest, attention was drawn to the growing workload of BMC’s engineering workforce and the critical importance of uninterrupted infrastructure preparation during Mumbai’s vulnerable monsoon period. The MEA’s letter has brought into focus the ongoing struggle of civic departments to balance city development with resource constraints.
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