Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC or MCGM) Headquarters Building, Mumbai

In the 1860s, the island of Bombay (now known as “the city of Mumbai”) underwent a metamorphosis from being a fortified town to becoming a center for administrative control and commercial prosperity.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation, now known as the “Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation” (BMC or MCGM) was created in 1865 for the purpose of local civic administration 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. The building was completed in 1893.

The Municipal Corporation Building with its Gothic Revival style architecture is a UNESCO World heritage site (Grade IIA heritage building).

- Dabholkar Ganesh Photography