Iqbal Singh Chahal

Iqbal Singh Chahal is a 1989 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.^[1][2] He is currently the Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).^[3][4][5][6] Mr. Chahal has served Government of Maharashtra and India in various capacities. In his initial career he was collector of Thane and Aurangabad districts,^[1] later on he was Joint Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Panchayati Raj.^[1] Following that he was also Principal Secretary in Water Resources Department and Urban Development Department of Maharashtra.^[1]

Notable Works[]

Mr Chahal is widely given the credit for keeping COVID-19 under check in Mumbai.^[7][8][9] Supreme Court of India and High Court of Maharashtra also lauded Mr. Chahal for his Mumbai Model.^{[10][11][12][13]}

He added thousands of beds through new field hospitals, and private facilities handed over their Covid-19 wards to the government with 800 vehicles being turned into ambulances. A proactive approach was used to focus on 55 slums including, Dharavi, where a strict lock-down was accompanied by aggressive sanitation of public toilets, mass coronavirus screening and a huge volunteer effort to ensure that nobody went hungry. All positive test reports in Mumbai were routed through "war rooms".^[14]

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