Navi Mumbai illegal banners and political hoardings have reappeared at junctions and along roads ahead of Navratri, prompting residents to accuse the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation of selective enforcement and failing to protect public spaces from unauthorised advertising.
Residents said many of the banners appeared without mandatory permission from civic agencies and traffic police. They alleged that municipal officials acted strictly against ordinary citizens while avoiding action against politically influential offenders. The complaints come as Navi Mumbai seeks to regain its reputation for cleanliness and continues to face questions over the enforcement of court directions against defacement of urban areas.
An alert citizen told the Times of India that the city had remained largely free of illegal banners during elections because of the model code of conduct. According to the resident, political banners returned as the festival season approached, repeating a pattern witnessed during the Ganesh festival when authorities allegedly failed to clear unauthorised displays.
The issue also has a revenue implication for the civic body. Activist Dhananjay Suvarna said the municipality was losing income by allowing political groups to install banners without paying prescribed charges for designated locations. Ordinary residents and organisations, he said, were required to obtain official permissions and comply with the applicable advertising rules.
Residents also questioned the role of ward officers, who can permit banners after collecting prescribed charges. They asked why officers had not identified and removed displays that allegedly lacked approval. Activist Santush Patil claimed political banners across Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation nodes did not carry permission stickers, which he said indicated violations of advertising norms.
Vashi resident C S Parwana said residents were frustrated by what he described as a dual policy. Referring to a recent High Court direction, Parwana said civic bodies had been instructed to keep urban areas free of defacement, but alleged that the order had not produced effective enforcement. He called for offenders to be penalised.
Developer Manohar Shroff alleged double standards in enforcement and claimed that corruption had made officials reluctant to act. These allegations were made by residents and activists; the report did not provide details of any investigation or establish wrongdoing by specific officials.
A civic official said special teams had been deployed to crack down on illegal banners and that action would be taken soon. Residents, however, remained dissatisfied with the response, particularly because similar complaints had emerged during earlier festival periods.
The immediate enforcement question is whether the special teams will remove banners that lack permission and impose the prescribed penalties. The civic body’s next stated step is action by the deployed teams against unauthorised displays.
