NMMC issues 2,500 notices to shops without Marathi signboards

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has issued notices to shops and commercial establishments to install Marathi signboards, with fines of up to ₹2,000 per shop per labour to be imposed for non-compliance. Party workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have also demanded that advertisement banners be in Marathi instead of English.

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has issued 2,500 odd notices till Friday to shops and commercial establishments to install Marathi signboards as per the Supreme Court orders. The ward officials have also started surveying the nodes to ensure strict compliance. “So far, we have issued notices informing shop owners about the changes to be made. Next week onwards, we will implement a penalty on those found not abiding,” Prabodan Mawade, Nerul ward officer, said.

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If shopkeepers fail to comply with the necessary changes, NMMC will impose a fine of up to ₹2,000 per shop per labour. “Shop owners had sought for some time to make the necessary changes. The fines to be imposed will be done as per the number of labourers mentioned in the Gumasta licence,” said an official.

Meanwhile, party workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Friday entered a realty exhibition and created a ruckus demanding that the advertisement banners in the exhibition should be in Marathi instead of English. Last week, the party workers created a similar ruckus inside a shopping mall in Nerul.

“The exhibition is happening at the CIDCO building, and its primary customers are the residents. Therefore, the banner names should be in Marathi. But our party workers found that all stalls displayed the banners only in English,” Nilesh Bankhele, vice president, MNS Navi Mumbai, said. The exhibitor assured the party workers to implement the changes henceforth.