On Thursday, September 23, a doctor said she was shocked to see a new hoarding set up next to an existing one in the listed heritage precinct.
Dr Anahita Pandole had got the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to pull down five hoardings along Marine Drive in 2019. The state had opposed an extension for them to stay on.
As per the hoarding policy guidelines, hoardings can not be permitted if there is no distance maintained. The doctor stated that it violated the hoarding policy guidelines.
The new hoarding has been set up beside Maharashtra State Jawahar Bal Bhavan situated on Netaji Subash Marg. It comes between Marine Drive and Charni Road railway stations.
Addressing the situation, she told the media that Marine Drive is a jewel in the crown of Mumbai. Expressing her sadness, she said that the authorities have erected a new hoarding with a minimum distance to the existing one, which is illegal. Trees have been cut to increase the visibility of the hoarding.
The doctor further added that she travels from the same route every day and noticed that a pole was erected, and later a structure was added. She said that she would be writing to the BMC about this so they could take necessary actions.
As per reports, the civic licence department officials said they would send a team to the spot. However, later they mentioned that the location at which the hoarding is set up comes under railway jurisdiction.
Sumit Thakur, Western Railways (WR) chief PRO addressing the situation, said that the hoarding could be erected without the corporation rules being applied according to the railway's advertisement policy.
While talking about the trees being cut, he observed that the trimming of the trees likely would have taken place for safety reasons.
Also read: State-Of-The-Art Public Toilet At Marine Drive Becomes Defunct
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