June 21, 2025: As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) initiates its ward reorganisation process ahead of upcoming elections, newly reclaimed land from major infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai Coastal Road and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Atal Setu) will now be officially included within the city’s municipal boundaries.
According to civic officials, these land parcels did not exist during the last BMC elections held in 2017. Both the Atal Setu and the Mumbai Coastal Road were inaugurated in 2024. In the case of Atal Setu, a newly created 0.35-hectare land plot will be added to wards located in the Mumbai city area. Meanwhile, the 111 hectares reclaimed from the Arabian Sea for the Coastal Road will be apportioned across various corporator wards. The reclaimed stretch spans administrative wards D to G-South, which cover six and seven corporator wards respectively.
The state’s Urban Development Department recently instructed municipal commissioners to finalise new draft ward boundaries. The BMC’s Assessment Department has been actively engaged in this task, which is expected to continue until the first week of September.
“Each corporator ward typically comprises around 54,000 voters. At present, staff are on the ground verifying whether ward boundaries are appropriately demarcated using identifiable separators such as bridges, nullahs, or railway tracks,” a civic official involved in the process stated. All updated boundaries will be digitally superimposed on Google Maps, and cross-checked physically. A public feedback process, involving suggestions and objections, will precede the finalisation of these boundaries.
BMC elections are likely to be held in October or November this year. Notably, the civic body has been functioning without an elected council for over three years.
Source: Times Of India
