Removed 31 hoardings after Ghatkopar incident: Thane civic body to HC | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Friday told the Bombay high court that it had acted against 44 hoardings in February 2025 that were found to be flouting the established norms, out of which 31 were removed.

The TMC submission was a response to an earlier order from the court directing the civic body to submit an affidavit detailing the action taken against illegal hoardings, following the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident.

The court had then reprimanded the civic body for its lackadaisical approach in addressing the issue of unauthorised hoardings in the city and had ordered it to submit its plans to resolve the issue.

In its affidavit submitted before the court on Friday, TMC submitted that it had received complaints against 49 hoardings, out of which 44 were found to have flouted the advertisement norms and the stakeholders were asked to pay hefty penalty fees. Thirty-one hoardings were taken down after the stakeholders failed to pay the penalty fees.

The affidavit also stated that the TMC has decided not to grant licenses to the blacklisted businesses in the future.

The high court had ordered the TMC to file the affidavit after a petition was filed by Sandeep Pachange, the president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Ovala-Majiwada assembly division, soon after the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse, alleging that despite complaints to the Thane municipal commissioner, no substantial actions were taken with regard to the illegal hoardings in the city. He had also demanded criminal proceedings against hoarding operators who were defrauding the civic body and the municipal officials who were filing inaccurate inspection reports.