Mumbai civic HQ to be open for tourists

The V-shaped building opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an equally important landmark. It is the headquarters of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).

Popularly known as the BMC Building or BMC Headquarters because of the earlier nomenclature -- the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) – it is unique in many respects and its heritage value is not less than any other building.

In fact, the CSMT, earlier known as Victoria Terminus, which houses the headquarters of Central Railway and the BMC Building, is designed by British architectural engineer Frederick William Stevens.

The good news is, now, tourists would be able to visit the BMC Building and enjoy the marvel.

The MGCM and the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has inked an MoU for BMC headquarters to open its doors to tourists in a few months' time.

“It’s a building that’s always captured my imagination and awestruck millions like me. I’m sure that not just tourists, but many Mumbaikars would also love to see the building of the BMC headquarters, the way Mumbai is run from in here and seek inspiration from the historic figures that built the city from here,” said state Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray.

Incidentally, the BMC has been controlled by Shiv Sena for quarter of a century.

The formal agreement signed in the presence of Aditya Thackeray, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, Minister of State for Tourism Aditi Tatkare, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, Principal Secretary Valsa Nair-Singh, MTDC Managing Director Ashutosh Salil and Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide.

The BMC HQ is a Grade IIA heritage building at the junction of Dadabhai Naoroji Road and Mahapalika Marg.

The MCGM was created in 1865 and Arthur Crawford was its first Municipal Commissioner. The Municipality was initially housed in a modest building at the terminus of Girgaum Road. In 1870, it was shifted to a building on the Esplanade, located between Watson Hotel and the Sassoon Mechanics Institute where the present Army and Navy building is situated. On December 9, 1884, the foundation stone for the new building of the Bombay Municipal Corporation was laid opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus by the Viceroy of the time, Lord Ripon.

Two designs were considered for the building: one of the Gothic designs done by Frederick William Stevens and the other, in the Indo-Saracenic design presented by Robert Fellowes Chisholm. In the end, a blend of Venetian Gothic and Indo-Saracenic was settled upon. The building was completed in 1893.

“The history of transformation of Bombay to Mumbai is incomplete without the story of BMC Building,” said Prakash Akolkar, a veteran journalist and writer, who had penned a book ‘Mumbai on Sale’ and is considered an authority of Mumbai’s civic affairs and Shiv Sena’s history.