Sujit Mahamulkar / Mid-day

• Mayor Shubha Raul feels permanent hoardings are dangerous 

Mumbai, Aug 3: Mayor Shubha Raul wants Mumbai to look “clean and smart”. And the way to do that, according to her, is to rid the city of hoardings. This, of course, does not apply to political posters.

Presently, the BMC earns around Rs 30 crore from the 2,200 hoardings in the city.

Dangerous: (Above right) A huge hoarding that collapsed due to gusty winds during heavy rains in Mahim on June 24 (File Pic)

However, Raul says they could do away with the money, “Hoardings that are fixed on the terraces of buildings can be dangerous, as they may collapse if the city faces heavy rain. I have seen a huge hoarding collapse at Mahim (see box). And we can not tolerate it just for Rs 30 crore.”

Uddhav’s backing

But for political posters and banners that also dirty the city, Raul said, “I agreed that they don’t make the city look good, but at least they don’t cost lives. They are not permanent structures. Later, we will make new policy to control the number of posters and banners.”

Raul said she will ascertain the views of other political parties about banning hoardings. “I am sure they will also agree to it,” she added. 
Raul said that she has the powerful backing of Shiv Sena’s executive president Uddhav Thackeray.

She added, “Uddhavji has given a me a green signal, as he also feels that hoardings are making the city look dirty.”

The BMC is already planning a new policy to restrict the number of hoardings. “We are making new guidelines for hoardings and they are almost ready.

We will submit it before the general body meeting. The final decision will be taken after the civic house decides on the issue,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner R A Rajiv.

The size of hoardings in Mumbai range from 10 ft x 20 ft to 10 ft x 120 ft. The civic administration has stopped giving permission for new hoardings to come up, as the new policy is being drafted.