Thapar institute, Patiala, to confer honorary degree on BMC commissioner Chahal

Chahal will be honoured at the Thapar institute Patiala in a special convocation; the BMC commissioner ensured he had Mumbai well-equipped even at the peak of the Covid19 crisis

Patiala Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (Deemed University), Patiala, will confer an honorary degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) on its alumnus, Iqbal Singh Chahal, the present municipal commissioner of Mumbai, in a special convocation on November 8.

BMC commissioner Chahal has had widespread praise for his Covid-19 management in Mumbai; he is an alumnus of Thapar Institute Patiala. (HT Photo)

Chahal’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic, as Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner, has received acclaim from all quarters. Chahal did his BTech (electronics and communications engineering) from the Thapar institute in 1987, before joining the IAS in 1989. Chahal planned well for the second wave of Covid-19, ensuring that earlier this year, when most states in India battled oxygen shortage, Mumbai remained well-equipped. BMC is India’s richest civic body and has an annual budget of ₹39,000 crore. Chahal also ensured that the Covid-19 situation in Dharavi, the biggest slum of India, remained under control.

The Thapar institute, established in 1956, is one of the top engineering and research institutes in the country. Over the past eight years, the varsity has not conferred this honour on anyone, with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the last to be so felicitated.