DNA: Mumbai: Thursday, May 05, 2016.
If
the number of banners, boards, posters, flags and other defacement removed in
the city is any indication, then 2015 seemed to be the year of the
"Godfathers" rather than the "Gods". Far more political
banners than religious and social ones were removed in 2015.
Of
the 12,853 banners, boards, posters, cut-outs, flags and other wall defacement
removed, 4,924 were political banners, as compared to 4,893 in the religious
and social categories. The number of commercial banners and posters stood at
1,200. As per the information provided under the Right To Information (RTI)
Act, while 194 such items were removed in January, the number jumped to 2,539
by the year end.
The
information was sought under the RTI Act by Andheri resident Ashok Pai. "I
had sought the information when I saw the party flag of Shiv Sena hoisted on
the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport (CSIA) on the Western Express Highway (WEH)," said Pai.
In
his application, Pai asked if a political party flag could be hoisted at public
places, if the BMC had given the permission for the same, and if so, then under
what rule. He also sought the copy of the same and details of removal of flags
from across the city.
According
to the reply given by the public information officer, who is also the deputy
superintendent of licenses, political parties are not permitted to hoist their
flags at any public places and that no such permission was given to any
political party.
Pai
has now written to the municipal commissioner, seeking action against officials
who did not take the action of removing political flags near the Shivaji
Maharaj statue at the international airport. "Despite court orders, they
are not acting on it," said Pai. The information provided showed that the
number of political banners and boards did not fall sizeably, despite court
orders. dna tried contacting the license department but there was no response.
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