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Urban Encroachment

PMC pulls down 6,573 illegal hoardings, banners, posters

Friday, 15 March 2013 09:58 administrator
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The Indian Express                  15.03.2013

PMC pulls down 6,573 illegal hoardings, banners, posters

Plans to write to people asking them to restrict use of their property for illegal placards, failing which action will be taken against them.

With the Bombay High Court directing all civic bodies to remove illegal hoardings and banners of advertisements in their respective jurisdiction within 24 hours, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) claimed to have pulled down 6,573 placards on Thursday. The civic body said it was not possible to remove all illegal placards in a day.

"The PMC has been initiating action against illegal placards but the action was intensified today after the directions of the high court. The action resulted in removing 6,573 placards in a day," said Additional Municipal Commissioner Rajendra Jagtap.

The civic administration claimed to have removed 131 hoardings, 918 boards, 2,785 banners, 1,179 flexes, 85 flags, 1,220 posters and 255 kiosks. "The civic action against the illegal placards would continue as they still exist in city area. It is practically impossible to remove them within a day due to shortage of manpower for the purpose," said Jagtap.

He said the civic body could not initiate action against hoardings that had got stay from court on civic action. The PMC had given permission to 2,122 hoardings till March 2011 and later owners of 1,632 hoardings got a stay from court on civic action.

The PMC has urged the hoarding owners to renew the licence by following the norms mentioned in the draft hoarding policy.

Meanwhile, to ensure that the hoardings or placards on private property don't come up again, the civic body has decided to write letters to people to restrict use of their property for illegal placards, failing which action would be taken against them.

The PMC had drafted the hoarding policy a few years ago but it was pending with the state government for a final nod. The corporation decided to implement the policy by inviting tenders for the purpose, but the hoarding owners challenged it in the HC. It was revealed that PMC's revenue was to increase by at least 10 folds if the new hoarding policy was implemented. The policy mainly puts a check on haphazardly erected hoardings that spoil the skyline and also create nuisance to commuters.

During Thursday's drive against illegal hoardings, two untoward incidents were reported. In one of them, a case has been registered at the Deccan police station. Police said one Balasaheb Ganjawe, who had put up a hoarding in the area, got into an argument with the PMC officials. Deccan police said a complaint was registered by Rajdip Dusia of PMC. Ganjawe has been booked under Section 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code.

In another incident, a fire brigade employee, Shri Sundar, was injured at the RTO square when part of the demolished hoarding fell on his leg. Police said Shri Sundar had gone there with a team to control grass fire. Police said the injuries were minor in nature and the fireman was out of danger.

 

Drive against unauthorised hoardings to begin today

Friday, 15 March 2013 09:28 administrator
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The Times of India                  14.03.2013 

Drive against unauthorised hoardings to begin today

PUNE: The civic administration on Wednesday directed all ward offices to carry out a drive against illegal hoardings in the city from Thursday following a Bombay high court order towards this direction.

The court set a 24-hour deadline for the civic administration to remove the illegal hoardings in the city and asked the PMC to submit an action-taken report to it with photographs on March 15 (Friday).

Sources in the civic body said the drive would begin at 8 am in various parts of the city. The PMC has planned to depute a 20-member team comprising officers, police personnel, nuisance detection squad members and helpers. The anti-encroachment department will constitute 15 such squads so that each ward office has a team.

"A report, along with photographs of hoardings before and after the removal (of the hoardings), should be submitted to the anti-encroachment department by 7 pm," said Ramesh Shelar, deputy commissioner of the PMC's anti encroachment department. He added that the administration has already started removing illegal hoardings across the city and approximately 600 unauthorized hoardings have been taken off.

"The PMC is taking action against illegal hoardings in the city on a daily basis. The administration will follow the high court's directives. All the reports will be submitted to the court," PMC commissioner Mahesh Pathak said.

A bunch of public interest litigations pertaining to illegal hoarding in cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Mira Bhayander and Satara came up for hearing before the high court bench comprising justices A M Khanwilkar and A P Bhangale. While hearing the matter, the judges orally set the deadline for taking action against the illegal hoardings.

"We argued that the PMC has taken strict actions in the recent past about illegal hoardings. In view of proliferation of such hoardings in Mumbai and Thane, the bench orally directed officials of all the corporations and municipal councils present in the court to remove the illegal hoardings within 24 hours and latest by Thursday evening and submit an action-taken report on March 15," advocate Abhijit Kulkarni, who represented the PMC in the court, told TOI from Mumbai.

"It also directed the civic officials to take photographs of such hoardings and issue notices to those whose photographs have appeared on the hoardings," he added.

Balasaheb Ganjwe, the president of Pune Outdoor Hoardings Association, said, "There are almost 1,800 authorized hoardings in the city and almost an equal number of illegal ones." He, however, claimed that the civic administration has not acted swiftly in removing the illegal hoardings.

In many cases, the civic staff removed the flex boards instead of hoardings put up across the city, he said. He added that though the association had given details of illegal hoardings to the PMC, there has been no satisfactory response from it.
Last Updated on Friday, 15 March 2013 09:30
 

Thane Municipal Corporation demolishes illegal NCP office on HC order

Friday, 15 March 2013 09:07 administrator
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The Times of India                  14.03.2013

Thane Municipal Corporation demolishes illegal NCP office on HC order

THANE: An office of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at Kausa, illegally built on land earmarked for a road in the development plan, was pulled down by the Thane Municipal Corporation on the orders of the Bombay High Court. The HC on Wednesday directed the TMC to raze the office, asking the Thane police commissioner to provide support to the TMC and making him "personally responsible" for any problem. The fates of two other NCP offices illegally built at Mumbra and Kalwa will be decided soon.

The TMC had in May 2012 issued notices to 171 offices of political parties illegally built and gave them 15 days to submit proof of legality. Of these, 93 offices were of the Shiv Sena and 22 of the Congress. After all political parties protested on the streets, police suggested action be put off for the time-being. But on March 8, 2013, a division bench of justices A M Khanwilkar and A P Bhangale, hearing a clutch of PILs, directed demolition of the illegal structure belonging to the Kausa Autorickshaw Union and used by NCP as its office, within 24 hours. TMC's counsel Anil Sakhare and advocate Narayan Bubna submitted "we are orally told the government stayed demolition". But Justice Khanwilkar said, "You will go by oral instructions or the order of the court?'', clearing the decks for the structure's demolition.

The demolition was a blow to the NCP as the Kausa office was frequented by MLA Jitendra Awhad, seeking to expand the party's base in Thane.

The petition against the illegal offices at Kausa, Mumbra and Kalwa was filed by Mumbra resident Mohan L Bhagat. He moved the HC after the TMC partially demolished his hotel in 2011, allegedly overlooking documents to prove its legality. "My hotel was legal, but the TMC demolished it on political instructions. I then filed a petition on how encroachment by the NCP was overlooked though the structure was an obstacle to a DP road,'' he said. He also moved the HC for compensation from the TMC.
Last Updated on Friday, 15 March 2013 09:12
 
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