Praveen Pardeshi takes charge as new BMC chief

Praveen Pardeshi took charge as the new Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner on Monday. He was welcomed to the office today by outgoing civic chief Ajoy Mehta.

Pardeshi’s appointment comes on the heels of Mehta being appointed as Maharashtra’s new Chief Secretary as part of a major bureaucratic shake-up.

In a briefing to the press after taking charge, the new chief said his immediate priority was to monitor and ensure the city’s monsoon preparedness.

A 1985-batch IAS officer, Pardeshi, is one of the top bureaucrats in Cheif Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ government. He was among the top contenders for the post after Mehta’s appointment was announced.

Pardeshi’s appointment as the new BMC chief was finalised by Fadnavis on Friday evening. Prior to that, he was serving as the additional chief secretary to the Chief Minister.

He has also previously served in various other departments of the IAS, including Revenue and Forest departments. Additionally, he was a part of the organising teams for ‘Make In India’ and ‘Make In Maharashtra’ summits.

The new commissioner holds a masters degree in social & economic policy.

Mehta, meanwhile, will take over the post of Chief Secretary from UPS Madan, who took voluntary retirement and has been named as special advisor to the CM.

Mehta, who completed four years as the BMC chief, is set to retire in September.

His tenure as the civic chief was marked by several noteworthy developments (finalisation of Development Plan 2034, launch of the Coastal Road project among others) and scams (road development scam, FOB collapse near CSMT).