Sitaram Kunte takes over as BMC chief

The 50-year-old IAS officer succeeds Subodh Kumar.

A 1985-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, Sitaram Kunte, succeeded Subodh Kumar as the municipal commissioner of Mumbai on Monday after chief minister Prithviraj Chavan picked him as a surprise choice over other seniors.

A graduate from Delhi School of Economics, 50-year-old Kunte has handled several city-related assignments. He was head of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and served as an additional municipal commissioner in the BMC.

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Mumbaiites know the low-profile officer because of his decision as housing secretary to make deemed conveyance (title of land) easier for housing societies to obtain from builders.

Since June last year, Kunte was the planning secretary in Mantralaya. After his appointment as civic chief, Chavan put senior IAS officer KP Bakshi in the post.

Kunte said after taking charge late on Monday, “The top-most priority would be speeding up pre-monsoon preparations like road repairs and de-silting of drains.”