Pune: PCMC begins action against illegal hoardings, removes five, more in store

On Monday, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) began taking action against illegal hoardings in its jurisdiction, removing five of them on the Pune-Nashik highway.

The drive follows the death of 16 people in Ghatkopar due to a hoarding collapse.

Between May 16 and May 19, civic officials conducted a survey in which 24 illegal hoardings were identified throughout the city, with 321 found to be larger than the size permitted by the municipal corporation under the license.

“Our teams carried out a drive to remove illegal hoardings on the Pune-Nashik highway, and five of them were removed. The action will continue until all illegal hoardings in Pimpri Chinchwad are removed”, said Sandip Khot, Deputy Municipal Commissioner of PCMC, as reported by TOI.

“The hoarding owners must renew their licenses by May 31. If the hoarding is not renewed by the deadline, it will be considered illegal. “We’ll then demolish it,” Pimpri Chinchwad municipal commissioner Shekhar Singh stated. Singh also urged citizens to report any illegal hoarding to PCMC.

Earlier, civic officials said the owners of the illegal hoardings and the land where the structure was built would face charges if they did not remove it by Monday.

A senior PCMC officer stated that plans were in the works to take legal action against illegal hoarding owners, landowners, and advertisers under strict legal provisions.

Pimpri Chinchwad currently has 1,136 authorized hoardings, with applications for the registration of another 15 structures pending with the civic body.

Following the Kiwale hoarding collapse, which killed five people, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation removed 191 hoardings in its jurisdiction over the last year.

Action continues against billboards in Pune

Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which began its campaign against illegal hoardings last week, demolished 16 hoardings on Monday.

The administration has decided to demolish dangerous hoardings, and 53 have been razed since the drive began.

The civic body will conduct an inspection of all hoardings on government and railway properties.

The civic administration has identified nearly 434 hoardings that could pose a threat, including 85 illegal hoardings and 349 for which structural audits have yet to be submitted. Approximately 250 hoardings are installed on government properties.

Civic administration data revealed that nearly 84 of the 85 illegal hoardings were located in the Hadapsar and Mundhwa ward office areas.