Amid clamour from anti-hoarding activists to restore Mumbai’s ‘visual sanctity,’ the BMC has frozen new hoardings since May 24.
The BMC’s new guidelines may take some shine off the clutter of hoardings that reside along the city’s potholed roads. Amid clamour from anti-hoarding activists to restore Mumbai’s ‘visual sanctity,’ the BMC has frozen new hoardings since May 24 until the revised norms are put into place.
“There is no question of banning hoardings altogether,” says additional municipal commissioner RA Rajeev in response to the demand to chuck them all away. “The high court, which is hearing a public interest petition on the matter, has accepted our existing guidelines.”
The new policy, to be out by August 24, will ensure that hoardings don’t make the city ugly. “Rather, they should beautify the city,” argues Rajeev. To the anti-hoarding activists, however, the hoardings are an “eyesore”.
“You can’t let the whole city become Times Square,” says an indignant Dr Anahita Pundole, the force behind the public interest litigation (PIL). Historian Sharda Dwivedi laments that the hoardings are ruining all our vistas. “There is hardly any pleasurable view of open or green spaces left that’s not barricaded by these neon signs,” she says.
Some pockets are marked off-limits for these neon sights. Following the high court’s orders on the PIL and directions of the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC), heritage precincts such as DN Road, CST, Oval Maidan and Grade I heritage structures are to be spared. “About 20 hoardings were pulled off DN Road, another 20 off CST, and eight off Oval Maidan,” says Pundole.
An expert committee set up by the high court found about 2,000 hoardings that violate the BMC’s own guidelines. Apart from desecrating buildings, hoardings are also sometimes responsible for cutting down trees. According to the BMC, about 2,000 trees have been hacked to display advertisements since 2002.
The urban landscape and trees are not the only casualties. Billboards earn the BMC Rs60 crore in ground rent and licensing fees. Yet Mumbai cannot do a New Delhi, asserts Rajeev. “I would still like to know Mumbaikars’ views on the matter.” he says.
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