Mumbai: Illegal posters defacing Malad Metro line pillars removed

The illegal posters have been removed from the under-construction Dahisar-DN Nagar metro near Malad, and the pillars have also been cleaned up

Fearing serious action after mid-day's eye-opening report on the illegal posters put up on the under-construction Dahisar-D N Nagar Metro pillars near Malad, the owner of an eye care centre advertised in them allegedly got them removed. The pillars have also been cleaned up.

mid-day had reported on the issue on September 9 (Illegal posters deface Malad Metro line pillars). The 150-200m stretch in Malad was replete with illegal advertisements and banners. On Tuesday, when mid-day visited the stretch, this reporter found that the posters had been removed and the piers were cleaned.

Sticky problem
MMRDA has been constantly faced with the problem of illegal posters and banners put up on the piers of metro and monorail. The major problem especially crops up during the festival season. Stickers are also pasted on the monorail pillars in Wadala, Lalbaug and Parel. Removing them is a daunting task as the glue used is so strong that it doesn't come off easily.

Insightful report
mid-day's report had said that the Metro Railways Act, 2002, states that the sticking of posters and banners on Metro premises is an offence, punishable with six months of imprisonment or a fine of R1,000. The report also mentioned that in 2015, 71 people, including shopkeepers and members of political parties, were served with a notice by authorities for sticking posters on the pillars of Versova-Ghatkopar Metro Line 1.

'Action will be taken'
MMRDA Joint Project Director Dilip Kawatkar said, "Our officials visited the spot a few days back after mid-day's report, and it was observed that all the illegal posters on the pillars were removed. We want to appeal to people not to paste any kind of advertisements on metro or monorail pillars as it is illegal, and action will be taken." It is learnt that the posters that had images of Shiv Sena leaders, and were sponsored by Rushabh Diagnostic/Dialysis and Eye Care Centre, were probably removed by the Centre's owner fearing strict legal action.

200m
Approximate length of the stretch of the metro structure that was defaced with illegal banners

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates