Who will dare to remove this hoarding, blocking the entire footpath on DP road, Patwardhan Baug at Nachiket Apartments?” asked reader Sanjay Deshpande, posting a picture of a massive hoarding that has cut into the footpath causing considerable inconvenience to pedestrians.
The hoarding has been put up by supporters of a ‘swadeshi’ campaign to appeal to the public to purchase ‘swadeshi’ items during the forthcoming Diwali.
Although a number of residents have complained against this hoarding to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials, no action has been taken causing enormous frustration among the neighbourhood citizens. The hoarding carries a massive photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which juts out onto the footpath.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Supriya Gokhale, an area resident, said, “This hoarding is causing considerable inconvenience to pedestrians on the footpath. However, as a picture of the Prime Minister has been used, PMC officials seem to be hesitating to take action against this illegal hoarding.”
Vinod Patwardhan, a DP road resident, said that local level politicians were completely disregarding civic rules and sensibilities by putting up their hoardings any which way without proper permission.
Unauthorised and illegal hoardings have become a common sight in many parts of the city with political backing causing considerable nuisance to law abiding citizens.
{{/usCountry}}Unauthorised and illegal hoardings have become a common sight in many parts of the city with political backing causing considerable nuisance to law abiding citizens.
{{/usCountry}}When asked about this hoarding, Karvenagar-Warje ward officer Ganesh Sonule claimed,“We have not received any complaint regarding this particular hoarding. However, we will check if any permission has been granted to this hoarding and decide what action is to be taken.”
When he was shown a photograph of the hoarding jutting out on the footpath, he said, “Yes, what you say is right. But I have to follow some rules and guidelines before taking action.”