Ganpati mandals have found newer places in the city to deface with their banners and hoardings ufffd pillars of metro and monorail projects under construction
With Ganeshotsav just few days away, the ubiquitous illegal hoardings that mar the city’s landscape are back and how.u00a0
This time, apart from being erected on poles around the city, publicity banners will also find a place as stickers pasted on the walls and pillars of projects under construction around Mumbai. Pillars of two important infrastructure projects, the Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur (JWC) monorail and the Versova-Andheri Ghatkopar (VAG) metro rail have become favourite spots of sorts.
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Ganpati posters on the pillars of the Metro near Bharatmata cinema in Parel. Pic/Sunil Tiwari
Ganpati mandals from the Lalbaug-Parel area have begun pasting stickers on the pillars of the JWC monorail project. Removing these stickers will be a daunting task for MMRDA because the glue used is rather strong.
“It is difficult to stop mandals from pasting illegal stickers and banners on the pillars of these projects. It could lead to tension. It will be more time-consuming to remove these stickers compared to hoardings put up on the road,” an MMRDA official said, on condition of anonymity.
Stickers are cheaper than hoardings, too. According to an Andheri-based banner manufacturer, the cost of printing a 10 x 10 banner is about Rs 1,000-1,200 depending on the quality and the wooden frame used, which costs around Rs 800-1,000. The total cost of putting up one banner, with the frame, is around Rs 2,000-2,500.”
However, printing a vinyl sticker costs only Rs 1,200-1,500. Various mandals in Andheri have already started sticking vinyl stickers on the metro rail pillar.
A member of a Ganpati mandal in Andheri (W) said, “This time, we have decided to print vinyl banners which we will stick on the pillars as it costs us half the price of the banner put up on the road.”
Worse, the banners which were stuck on to the metro pillars in Andheri (W) last year have not been removed yet. During Janmashtamai, too, some political parties pasted their banners on metro pillars which remain untouched.
MMRDA speak
Speaking to Sunday MiD DAY, MMRDA Joint Project Director, Dilip Kawatkar said, “We have not given permission to any political party or Ganpati mandal to stick the banners or stickers on the pillars of projects under construction. If they are doing so, we will take appropriate action against them.”u00a0
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