Exclusive|Zoya Akhtar on Mumbai's floating advertising barges: We need respite not sponsored sunsets

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar voices her concerns over plans for floating advertising barges and illuminated hoardings along Mumbai’s coastline

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, born and brought up in Mumbai, has always been vocal about developments in the city and concerns citizens face. Recently, the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) invited tenders to introduce floating advertising barges and illuminated hoardings along Mumbai’s coastline, and Zoya opens up on her thoughts on it.

Zoya Akhtar

“This city is bursting at the seams, with its population, construction, traffic, pollution, noise, garbage, lack of open spaces, felling of trees etc. It’s already an assault on the senses. We are in desperate need to connect with nature, and not disconnect further. And we need respite, not sponsored sunsets! Why would people want to look at ugly hoardings when sitting by the water,” she shares.

Zoya adds that citizens should have a say before such installations are approved. “People pay through their noses for homes with a view and even if they don’t live by the sea, they spend a considerable amount to live in Mumbai. Their opinion has to matter.”

Concerns have also been raised about the impact of such advertising on Mumbai’s coastal environment and marine life. Separately, the growing presence of commercial signage raises another question: where should one draw the line between creative advertising and visual pollution? “Please mark certain areas for commercial advertising and limit it to that. A city must not have signage everywhere. It’s mentally taxing, we don’t realise but to be bombarded with constant messaging is very stressful for the mind,” Zoya ends.