Ganeshotsav brings a flood of illegal hoardings to city

Ganeshotsav festivities in Mumbai have led to an increase in illegal hoardings, causing safety concerns and complaints from citizens.

Mumbai: The Ganeshotsav festivities have brought in a deluge of illegal hoardings all across the city, and with them, complaints from citizens affected by the visual noise and safety hazards posed.

Ganeshotsav brings a flood of illegal hoardings to city

“It would be a challenge to find any place in Mumbai without illegal banners,” said Dr Aniruddha Malpani, who filed a PIL in the Bombay high court on the matter in 2023. Malpani flagged many recent cases of illegal hoardings put up in Colaba, outside Mantralaya. “Shameless politicians break the law with impunity and commit contempt of court because BMC officials refuse to do their job,” he said.

Karan Shah, a citizen, pointed out the hoardings blocking footpaths on Warden Road, Walkeshwar and across the city, put up to welcome the home minister. “You have to bend and go under them,” he said. “Not only do they deface the city, they’re making footpaths unwalkable. I tweeted to the BMC but they haven’t even acknowledged it.”

Other complaints pointed to huge illegal hoardings at Leningrad Chowk, Prabhadevi, Malabar Hill, Breach Candy, Ghatkopar, on the Sion-Trombay Road and Juhu Circle, blocking footpaths and obstructing the view.

Karan Jotwani, co-founder of the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association, recounted that 10 days earlier, the Lokhandwala Circle fountain had opened after a long gap, but the posters around it blocked it from view. “After our complaints, the posters were removed by Sunday, only for a few more to crop up again,” he said. “Every place in Andheri West is full of these Ganesh Chaturthi greetings and Happy Birthday messages with unknown faces vying for some political cred.”

By Thursday evening, however, to Jotwani’s surprise, the posters around Lokhandwala Circle had all gone, with both the current MLA Haroon Khan and candidate Bharti Lavekar taking the credit. The BMC also put up a notice, warning that unauthorised banners and posters were prohibited, and anyone found putting them up would be charged under Section 3 and 5 of the Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement Act, 1995.

An official from the BMC’s license department said that the civic body regularly took hoardings down and reported them to the police. “There’s little we can do to stop them being put up, as political parties do this on the sly in the middle of the night,” said a licence officer from a ward. “The BMC pulls down the hoardings every day.”

Chanda Jadhav, deputy municipal commissioner in charge of encroachments, did not respond to attempts to reach her.

Malpani questioned why existing mechanisms weren’t being used to curb the problem. “We have a challan system to fine vehicles,” he said. “Why can’t this be repurposed to fine the party/ company/ politician on the face of the hoarding? After all, whoever the middleman, eventually, it’s they who benefit. The BMC is also losing revenue by allowing illegal hoardings to flourish. With a little will, the issue can be dealt with easily.”