The Indian Express                  15.03.2013

4,000 illegal banners down by Friday morning: Civic officials

Scrambling to beat the 24-hour deadline set by the High Court for the civic administration to remove all illegal billboards, hoardings, posters and banners in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) removed almost 2,000 of these by Thursday evening.

Civic officials who planned to work late into the night said that by Friday morning the city would have rid itself of 4,000.

"We deployed all civic machinery to clamp down on illegal hoardings. Our action will continue late into the night and we plan to remove at least 4,000 of these," said Mohan Adtani, Additional Municipal Commissioner on Thursday late evening. According to a civic official, most illegal posters were of political parties.

The High Court had taken the civic body to task and directed it to remove illegal advertisements and banners within 24 hours.

The HC order came following a petition by Thane activist Prabhakar Chaudhari. Observing that the majority of hoardings and banners belong to political parties, the court had also asked the civic bodies to issue notices to persons whose names or photographs are printed on illegal hoardings.

Although it had earlier claimed that a 24-hour deadline will be difficult to follow, the civic administration now claims there will be '100 per cent' compliance of the court order. Taking note of measures taken by Satara Municipal Corporation to remove illegal hoardings, the High Court had ordered a crackdown of illegal hoardings in the Mumbai.

According to a senior civic official, the BMC had earlier removed over 2,000 illegal hoardings and posters between March 1 and March 13. Every month, on an average, the BMC pulls down roughly 2,500-3,000 illegal hoardings, although the actual number may be higher.

Based on data collected over a year, more than 70 per cent of them are political banners.

"The drive is a positive move and Shiv Sena has always backed the administration in such issues. It is very important that all illegal political hoardings in the city are removed so that the city looks beautiful," said Yashodhar Phanse, Shiv Sena corporator and Leader of the House in the civic body, who added that all other parties should also desist from putting up illegal hoardings of their leaders.

The petitioner's lawyer Sagar Joshi said they had urged the court to direct the removal of illegal banners and posters and initiate action against corporation officers who fail to act against them.

The Indian Express                  15.03.2013

Illegal hoardings: After HC order, Kunte cracks the whip

The Bombay High Court ordering a strict crackdown on illegal banners and posters in the city has led Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte, who had until recently been hesitant to take politicians head-on, to take a stern view of the matter. He is getting ready to implement the Delhi model of "zero tolerance" to illegal hoardings, a major chunk of which in Mumbai is of political parties and leaders.

The HC had on Wednesday said it would hold Municipal Commissioners of corporations as co-conspirators in putting up illegal hoardings and contemplate action against them. It asked Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and civic bodies in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Mira Bhayander and Pune to remove illegal posters, banners, billboards and hoardings within 24 hours.

Kunte will soon send a team of civic officials to study how the civic body in Delhi has managed to keep it free of posters and banners despite it being a hub of political activity. "We are working out a model for Mumbai wherein banners and hoardings, especially those of politicians, will not be tolerated. If it is possible in political hub Delhi, which has more politicians than any other city, Mumbai can definitely follow such a model," Kunte told Newsline.

"In Mumbai, there are too many political hoardings at too many places, although there is no permission for many of them. It seems the whole city is littered with them making it dirty. We want to get rid of this image," he said. According to civic officials, the city is estimated to have 3,500-4,000 illegal hoardings, many of which are put up by politicians and party workers.

Presenting the 2013-14 budget of the civic body recently, Kunte had proposed a banners- and posters-free city and said. "We are in talks with political leaders and want to achieve this through cooperation of on politicians than adopt a confrontational attitude."

But the High Court's stern words on Wednesday has forced the civic body to swing into action with hoardings being pulled down not just across Mumbai, but also in Navi Mumbai and Thane.

The civic administration is also in the process of drafting a policy on illegal hoardings and banners. Under the standard operating procedure (SOP) proposed now, the civic body will retain the right to decide which banner could be put up. "Although in the planning stage, we will ensure the policy is strict and streamlined with no tolerance for illegal political hoardings," Kunte said, adding the civic body would also initiate action against political parties, politicians or those responsible for putting up illegal hoardings.

The BMC will come out with a policy on banners and hoardings in two months. The policy will require the nod of the majority of the 227 corporators in the civic body's general body meeting.

Under the MMC Act, action can initiated against a person for putting up an illegal banner under section 328 and a fine of Rs 1,000-Rs 5,000 can be imposed depending upon extent of violation of norms. Besides, as per section 3 of Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1995, an offender can be fined up to Rs 2,000 or imprisoned for three months or both.