Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ,Mumbai- Maharashtra

The Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai, located in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India is a Grade IIA heritage building opposite to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) at the junction of Dadabhai Naoroji Road and Mahapalika Marg. It is also known as the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation Building, or BMC building for short.

As the name suggests, the ‘V’ shaped building houses the civic body that governs the city of Mumbai, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. It is said to be the largest civic organization in India as well as in Asia covering an area of 434 km2 (167.6 sq mi).

History

Winged allegorical figure representing the ‘urbs prima in Indis’ and the coat of arms of MCGM below

The main tower of the building
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 & Navy building is situated. On 9 December 1884, the foundation stone for the new building of the Bombay Municipal Corporation was laid opposite to Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji 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.