Illegal hoardings cost state dear…….Sandeep Ashar
MUMBAI: Almost immediately after being sworn-in as chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan instructed supporters not to put up banners and posters congratulating him.
Statistics about illegal hoardings put up following his appointment reveal just how important it is for the new CM to transform this restraint into a law.
Chavan was named chief minister on November 10. In two days, over 9,196 illegal banners congratulating him and new deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar came up across the city. In contrast, the number of legal hoardings in all of 2010 was barely 7,435.
The information was provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, in response to a query filed by social activist Anil Galgali. He had sought information on action taken by the BMC following the CM’s directive.
Replying to the query, the office of the BMC’s licence superintendent said 9,196 illegal hoardings had been removed in a three-day drive beginning November 12, on verbal orders from Chavan. Interestingly, the office refused to part with information on fines collected from those who had put up the political banners.
“The drive was carried out on a ward level. This information has not been compiled,” it mentioned in the RTI reply.
However, senior BMC sources said no fine had been collected in most cases. This, despite the BMC incurring an expenditure of nearly Rs 600 to remove each hoarding, with special teams designated for the purpose. D S Kharat, licence superintendent, said the BMC is yet to compile details on per-hoarding expenditure incurred during such drives.
Officials also admitted that those behind putting up illegal political banners were rarely punished, despite the existence of provisions to do so.
Galgali pointed out it was ironical that public money was being spent to remove illegal banners.
“Lakhs of hoardings are erected in the city every year, their numbers rising on political events. The RTI query has shown that less than 10,000 of these hoarding are legally permitted,” he said, adding that collecting fines and registering cases against offenders would not only discourage offenders but also contribute substantially to the civic exchequer.
In 2010, the BMC collected Rs 59 lakh as revenue from the 7,435 legal hoardings. In 2009, only 4,962 legal hoardings were erected, which earned the department revenue of Rs 36 lakh.