BMC polls: MNCDF releases citizen charter, lays out expectations from candidates

The Mumbai North Central District Forum MNCDF a citizen welfare platform on Thursday released a detailed 30point citizen charter ahead of the BMC Election 2026The forum has urged all candidates contesting the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC polls on January 15 to commit to transparent accountable and citizenfirst governance in MumbaiThe citizen charter was issued on behalf of the MNCDF Citizen Welfare Forum by Advocate Trivankumar KarnaniThe citizen charter claims to reflect the collective concerns of residents across the city and focuses on grievance redressal pedestrian safety infrastructure planning health environment transport and transparency in civic administrationGrievance redressal and accountabilityThe forum has demanded that elected municipal councillors compel the BMCrsquos Public Relations Office PRO to overhaul the existing social mediabased grievance redressal system calling it ineffective and reduced to a public relations exerciseSome of the key demands include timebound resolution of citizens complaints independent monitoring with citizen oversight a secure multilingual portal for anonymous complaints with whistleblower protection monthly citizen meetings with ward officers and escalation of unresolved issues to the BMC Commissionerrsquos monthly meetingsThe charter has also called for annual independent audits of grievance handling and the launch of a 247 multilingual helpline with complaint trackingPedestrian safety and encroachment controlThe forum stressed that pedestrian safety must be implemented in practice not just on paperSome of the major highlights include dedicated pedestrian zones and safe crossings highvisibility road markings and speed breakers using durable materials strict criminal action against illegal hawkers and encroachments and a clear policy for relocation and rehabilitation of illegal Aarey shopsmilk centresCouncillors have been urged by the MNCDF not to protect illegal encroachments linked to political or personal interestsZeropothole policy and more public toiletsTo prevent repeated road digging the charter insists on joint planning meetings involving citizens ward officials and all utility agencies before road concretisationThe MNCDF has also called for a zeropothole policyrealtime reporting apps linked to contractor accountability criminal action against contractors for substandard workinstallation of mobile public toilets at busy tourist locations and health cleanliness and social WelfareThe charter highlights serious concerns about civic hospitals and waste management stating that there must be an annual audits of hygiene equipment medicines and staffing in municipal hospitalsCivic hospitals in MumbaiIt has also demanded that there should also be mental health counselling centres in civic hospitals in Mumbai and agefriendly infrastructure reserved hospital beds transport concessions and digital ID cards for senior citizensThe MNCDF stated that in slum areas the forum has demanded strict enforcement of solid waste management SWM rules appointment of marshals and penalties for violationsIt has said that environmental protection forms a major part of the charter including realtime wardwise air quality monitoring strict enforcement of dust and noise control norms at construction sitesrelocation of kabutarkhanas to nonresidential zones awareness campaigns stating that relocation of dogs and cats is illegal andtransparent animal sterilisation programmes in partnership with NGOsTransport and traffic control measuresThe forum has proposed integrated and technologydriven solutions such asone app or smart card for BEST buses Mumbai Metro and suburban railIt said that Artificial Intelligence AI enabled traffic signals must come up in Mumbai to reduce congestion and accidents and there should be immediate enforcement of the longpending parking policyIt said that apart from these there should be Realtime parking availability apps Strict action against illegal parking especially on footpaths Education Transparency and Public FacilitiesDigital classrooms in all BMC schools AI skill development training Mandatory asset disclosure of BMC officials particularly engineers Development of sports complexes libraries and cultural hubs in every zoneThe forum clarified that the charter is nonpartisan and applies to candidates of all political parties