Appointment of Sita-ram Kunte second cheer for Mumbai

The appointment of   Sita-ram Kunte as municipal commissioner of Mumbai, replacing Subodh Kumar, who retired yesterday, is good news for the city. With this appointment, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has sent out a clear message: that he remains determined to clean up the mess in Mumbai’s municipal administration and that he is not about to let the good work initiated by the outgoing civic chief go down one of its numerous filthy drains. Like Kumar, who was also handpicked by Chavan, Kunte is a low-profile, upright, capable and far-sighted officer.

Moreover, he is of Maharashtrian origin, making him acceptable to the ‘son-of-the-soil’ parties. Additionally, by moving an officer from deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s team, the chief minister, whom his opponents often dismiss as politically naive, has ensured that his own  team remains undisturbed.

In his 15 months in charge, the no-nonsense Kumar managed to tread on several toes, most notably those belonging to the notorious builder lobby. His decision to do away with the discretionary powers of the commissioner, which were misused spectacularly by some of his predecessors, and the changes he brought about in the development control rules to limit the scope for FSI manipulation by builders, did not endear him to those worthies or to their lackeys within the corporation, but they are certain to have a far-reaching impact on the city’s real-estate market.

Kunte’s appointment suggests that these changes will outlive Kumar’s tenure and that Chavan will continue with his mission of making the city liveable once more, ignoring the canard being spread by certain interested parties that the ‘high command’ is unhappy with his inability to ‘generate funds’ for the party.