NAGPUR: With Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections drawing close, political parties and candidates have started putting up hoardings. The civic body appears to be ignoring the prospect of increasing its revenue by charging for such hoardings, which have sprung up without permission in all parts of the city. However, the civic chief has assured to take action soon.
NMC is in fact losing crores in revenue because political parties are preferring illegal hoardings over regular commercial sites. These huge illegal hoardings have come up along many roads and traffic signals across the city in brazen violation of high court orders.
TOI toured many localities on Tuesday and found huge hoardings and banners put up at many busy squares across internal roads, some major junctions and also on inner ring road. Many aspiring candidates for the civic body elections have put up banners to woo voters. Hoardings of leaders of all major parties, including MLA Vikas Thakre, former deputy mayor Sandip Jadhav, BJP corporators Sunil Hiranwar and Pramod Tabhane can be seen violating HC orders, exposing NMC’s apathy.
On several occasions, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court had passed orders to remove illegal hoardings and advertisements across the city. However, in spite of this, the situation remains the same.
Social activist Dinesh Naidu through his NGO — Parivartan — The Citizens Forum — had approached the high court over defacement of public properties. According to him, it has become routine for political leaders across the city to put up hoardings and deface public and private property.
“NMC and the city police have turned a blind eye towards the menace,” he alleged. He pointed out that the lower rank officials from NMC and city police should be blamed for this recurrent menace. If NMC zonal officers and local police station staff remain vigilant, the menace of illegal hoardings will end, he claimed.
Shekhar Sahare, a resident of Nara, said, “NMC has no check on hoardings. Anyone can place a hoarding anywhere at will. If you are placing a political hoarding, no one from the NMC will dare remove it.”
These hoardings are placed without giving any revenue to the civic body and it’s a huge nexus. “NMC must check these illegal hoardings and take action against those who put them up,” he said.
The casual approach of authorities concerned has also increased the trend of pasting posters across the city. These are a eyesore not only on walls, but also on utility poles, bus stops etc.
Municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B said NMC would curb the menace and if any hoarding or poster is found illegal, strict action would be taken against the violator. To a query, he said no political party will be spared now, adding hefty fines too will be imposed on violators.
