Hoardings challenged

Dr Anahita Pandole, who has been protesting against the presence of illegal hoardings in Bombay for the past decade, has reason for cheer. The Bombay High Court on July 30, 2012 "gave its nod to a roadmap to rein in unauthorized banners” reported The Times of India (TOI) in its issue of July 31, 2012. A division bench of Justices Mohit Shah and Nitin Jamdar decided that December 31, 2012 should be the deadline for the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) to inspect all the 2,100 hoardings in Bombay and ensure that they comply with the norms.

Each and every hoarding in the city will have to apply to the BMC for renewal before August 31, 2012. The Corporation will need to scrutinize the applications and identify those that comply with the BMC Act. The deputy municipal commissioner of the zone will certify and endorse those hoardings that comply with its rules when the licence is renewed, notes TOI. Any hoarding failing to meet the norms will be cancelled after due procedure.

While welcoming the High Court’s order, Pandole told TOI: "The BMC has framed proper guidelines, but unfortunately the reality is that it is not being implemented properly. Not only were trees being hacked to provide a better view of hoardings, many banners were set up on footpaths, in the sea and (on) compulsory open spaces. They were also being placed on heritage buildings and heritage precincts like the Mahalaxmi Temple area.”

Pandole had moved the High Court with a PIL (public interest litigation) to be heard on July 16, 2012, reported the Afternoon Despatch and Courier (ADC) on that day. The following suggestions made by Pandole’s legal team were put before the High Court: no hoardings on heritage buildings/precincts, in CRZ-I and no-development zone of CRZ-III; no hacking of trees to improve visibility of hoardings; no illuminated hoarding within the cone of vision (angle of sight) of the driver; no hoardings at intersections within a distance of 25 m from the stop line of each approach road; no glow signs permitted around traffic islands and signal junctions within 25 m radius and the maximum height of a hoarding not to exceed 18 m from the ground and 12.2 m from the terrace level, mentions ADC.

Senior counsel Iqbal Chagla had proposed that the BMC superintendent of licences be made liable for illegal hoardings in the city and that every renewed licence should carry an endorsement from the official that it has been granted in accordance with the rules to ensure that no approval is given for unauthorized hoardings, ADC mentioned.