Mumbai, Mar 17 (IANS): Mumbai' Municipal Commissioner I. S. Chahal was conferred the 'Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year 2021 Award' for his meritorious efforts to control the spread of the Covid-19 scourge in the city.

Unon Finance Minister Nirmal Sitharaman presented the award to Chahal, who dedicated it to 'Team BMC', at a function in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"It has been an honour and privilege to receive the award at the hands of the Union Finance Minister for exemplary performance in the fight against Coronavirus. The award was decided through online voting by 2.50 million people," Chahal said.

He said he has dedicated the award to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation team "without whom it would have been beyond imagination to receive such a great honour".

The BMC chief further resolved that the Team BMC will do its best to effectively and convincingly defeat Covid-19 in the ongoing war against the coronavirus pandemic.

Appointed as the civic chief in May 2020, Chahal was also bestowed with the Covid Crusaders Award-2020 by the Indo-American Chambers of Commerce and the US Consulate in Mumbai.

Besides he has bagged several other honours and recognition for keeping the virus at bay beating all odds in the country's commercial capital, which ranks as the worst-hit in the country in terms of Covid-19 cases and fatalities.