Mumbai: The Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has once again got an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer as commissioner and administrator in the form of Sanjay Katkar after a period of more than two years.
Katkar took over the reins of the civic body on Wednesday, hours after his predecessor-Dilip Dhole was transferred by the urban development department.
A Dynamic Succession
Dhole who had been appointed as additional municipal commissioner in 2020 was later elevated to the post of civic chief in March-2021, by replacing Dr. Vijay Rathod who was also a 2014 batch IAS officer.
Dhole was suddenly issued the marching orders on Wednesday. Having a rich experience of serving various departments, Katkar was posted as joint managing director of CIDCO in Navi Mumbai. Apart from holding important postings during his tenure, Katkar had been recently appointed as the deputy commissioner (revenue) of Nashik division.
Vision and Priorities: Enhancing Civic Well-being
“First of all, I will take an in-depth review of all departments. Performing my duties diligently and in a transparent manner to boost developmental work and further enhance civic amenities for the citizens of the twin-city will be my top priority,” said Katkar while speaking to The Free Press Journal.
Katkar was welcomed by civic officials including additional municipal commissioner-Aniket Manorkar, deputy civic chief’s- Maruti Gaikwad, Sanjay Shinde and Ravi Pawar.
Legacy of IAS Leadership
Notably, Vikram Kumar, was the first IAS officer to lead the MBMC followed by Suresh Kakani, Dr. Naresh Gite, B.G Pawar Chandrakant Dange and Dr. Vijay Rathod.
Besides handling big-ticket developmental projects including ongoing work of Metro Rail, the planning aspects need the special expertise of an IAS officer to focus on infrastructure and delivering amenities for the burgeoning population of the twin-city which is an integral part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
