Shiv Sena, MNS battle it out to install illegal hoardings on Gudi Padwa

Hoarding put up at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar

Despite the Bombay HC issuing a strict directive banning political hoardings in the city, the allies- Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) managed to install hoardings between Dadar Shivaji Park and Bandra, wishing people on the occasion of Gudi Padwa.

What came in as a blatant violation of the Bombay High Court’s order, the entire stretch which heads on to the Shiv Sena Bhavan junction was loaded with banners and hoardings of all sizes. A similar scenario was to be witnessed on Western and Eastern express highway. Dadar’s iconic Shivaji Park was no different.

The HC has time-and-again warned political parties and BMC officials to ensure that no banners or hoardings are put on the city streets, but the parties sought a poor excuse to break the law under the banner of Gudi Padwa.

The menace of illegal hoardings has been plaguing the city since many years now. The BMC had also launched toll-free helplines — 1292 and 1293 — in December 2014 to report illegal hoardings, but the efforts went into vain as very few complaints have been registered through them.

A BMC official, however, stated that they will start removing the illegal banners from today morning onwards.