On Monday, two days after the BMC submitted to the Bombay high court a
report on the removal of over 6,000 illegal hoardings in 24 hours, many
unauthorized political banners were still around in the city.

While many of the hoardings were old ones that had not been torn down, some were new additions.

A large hoarding put up by the Shiv Sena in Hindamata and hoardings put up by Nationalist Congress Party
in Bhandup village were seen on Monday, suggesting the BMC drive was
losing steam and the politicians who had vowed to support the campaign
were not keeping their word.

“There is a manpower crunch in the
licence department, owing to which it will be difficult to keep up the
pace of the drive,” a civic official said. “We have managed to clean
major roads of the illegal hoardings and now will focus on the smaller
roads.”

The official said if citizens spotted an illegal
hoarding, they should report it on the helpline and the civic body would
take action in 48 hours.

Another official said the BMC was not giving permissions for new hoardings.

“If a new hoarding comes up, it is illegal and will be pulled down,” the official said.

Jitesh Merani, a resident of Santa Cruz, was sceptical about the long-term success of the drive.

“If the BMC thinks politicians are not going to put up hoardings, then
it is fooling itself,” Merani said. “Once the BMC relaxes the drive,
these hoardings will come up again.”

The civic body is also in
the process of drafting a policy on the lines of Delhi, which has zero
tolerance for illegal hoardings and banners. It plans to soon appoint a
team of officials to study how the civic body in Delhi manages to keep
it free of posters and banners.

Under the new policy, only
hoardings of a social or religious nature will be permitted. If illegal
hoardings come up, action will be taken under the Property Defacement
Act, which provides for a maximum punishment of three months and a
possible fine of Rs 2,000.