Navi Mumbai gets new civic commissioner

Former Nagpur civic chief Abhijit Bangar took charge as the commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Tuesday. Bangar, a 2008-batch Indian Administrative

Former Nagpur civic chief Abhijit Bangar took charge as the commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Tuesday. Bangar, a 2008-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer replaced Annasaheb Misal, who was transferred almost a month after the state government issued a stay on his transfer order.

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Bangar, who was the municipal commissioner of Nagpur for 14 months, also held the charge of additional commissioner of Nagpur division before being transferred to Navi Mumbai.

“The priority is of course to bring the Covid-19 outbreak in Navi Mumbai under control and we will take the necessary measures to achieve it. I am sure that with everybody’s cooperation, we will accomplish the goal in the interest of the people of the city.”

Within three week after Misal’s transfer order was stayed by the state, Navi Mumbai’s Covid-19 situation got worse, and the city added around 5,000 new cases during the period, with the total cases now approaching the 10,000-mark.

Misal had taken charge of NMMC a year ago, replacing Ramaswamy N. On June 23, Misal was transferred, along with several other municipal commissioners of neighbouring cities. However, the order was later cancelled. Sources privy to the development claimed that the transfer order was stayed owing to political pressure.