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Mumbai: Coastal Road To Be Hoardings Free Only On Reclaimed Land, Traffic NOC Mandatory, Says BMC’s Draft Policy 2024

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Mumbai: Coastal Road To Be Hoardings Free Only On Reclaimed Land, Traffic NOC Mandatory, Says BMC's Draft Policy 2024

Mumbaikars demand for hoarding free coastal road has been only partially fulfilled by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as under the new draft policy, hoardings have been prohibited only within the reclaimed lands for the coastal road. Hence, the commuters are likely to see the hoardings coming up on the non-reclaimed land (open spaces) along the coastal road.

The BMC recently had approved six hoardings in the open spaces along the coastal road in south Mumbai- four in Tata Garden and two in Haji Ali. The contractor will be able to erect the hoardings once the Maharashtra Coastal Regulatory Management Authority gives a final nod. These open spaces fall under the Coastal Regulatory Zone.

What authorities says?

Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special) Kiran Dighavkar said, “No hoardings are allowed within the reclaimed lands of the coastal road.” He added that the hoardings approved in the Tata Garden and Haji Ali fall beyond the reclaimed lands for coastal road.

Under Draft Policy Guidelines for Display of Outdoor Advertisements 2024 released on Friday, the BMC has permitted erecting hoardings on the Coastal Regulatory Zone with ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) by the Maharashtra Coastal Regulatory Management Authority.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA from Worli had demanded that BMC should follow the ‘hoardings free coastal road’ and stressed that the hoardings could cause accidents. The residents of south Mumbai also started online petition to oppose hoardings along southern arm of the coastal road.

What is the new hoarding policy?

The draft policy also mentions that the earlier system of different sizes for different zones was without any rationale, and the advertisers are allowed to put any size of hoardings (as per policy) anywhere under BMC jurisdiction. The city will have hoardings size of maximum 40ft x 40ft and maximum 100 ft tall.

The draft policy for erecting hoardings also comes with amended process of permissions, including mandatory NOC from Traffic police department. The draft policy also adds the areas prohibited for erecting hoardings, like erecting hoardings on building terrace, traffic island, bridge gantries among others.

As per the draft policy, all the government authorities (like Railways, MHADA, MMRDA etc) now have to strictly follow BMC guidelines for erecting hoardings. BMC spokesperson Tanaji Kamble said that these guidelines existed earlier too, however the government agencies did not abide to the BMC guidelines. After the supreme court’s recent order all agencies need to follow guidelines set by the BMC.

The draft policy comes three months after the fatal Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident, which killed 17 people and injured over 70.

disaster

Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sudhakar Pathare, who was posted in the Port Zone, passed away in a road accident on Saturday.

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Pathare had visited Hyderabad for training. He was on his way to visit a temple with a relative when the accident occurred. Both Pathare and his relative lost their lives in the crash.

Mumbai Police have been informed about the incident.

More details are awaited.

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Maharashtra

Order to demolish the tomb of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Baba in Mira Bhayander

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Mumbai: The state government has issued an order to demolish the four hundred year old dargah of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Peer Rahmatullah Alaih located in Mira Bhayander. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has sent a letter to the collector declaring this dargah illegal and ordered action against it. As the dargah is located on forest land, communalists had started demanding the demolition of the dargah. In the House, Darranjan Daukhre had also demanded action against the dargah, after which now the state government has ordered to run a bulldozer on the dargah. An order has also been issued to remove and demolish the dargah by May.

Dargah trustee Amjad Sheikh said that this dargah is ancient and this order is illegal in itself. In this case, communal forces had launched a campaign against the dargah, after which this order was issued.

There is a dargah on the beach and citing the threat of terrorist and illegal activities and the presence of terrorists here, there was a demand to demolish the dargah. The dargah is close to the sea and in such a situation, the threat of a terrorist attack on Mumbai from the sea has been expressed, while the dargah administration has clearly denied this and said that communal organizations are running their agenda against the dargah and there is no such threat. Muslims have opposed this decision of the government and Muslims have also expressed their displeasure and anger over it.

The trustee says that this dargah is ancient and earlier the collector and the municipal corporation had given a notice, after which the illegal shed and other premises were demolished here and the dargah administration has taken this action at its own level. Now an order has been issued to demolish the dargah itself.

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Maharashtra

Haji Ali Dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid due to rising sea level

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Mumbai: Due to rising sea level at Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid. On March 31, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims from 12 noon to 3 pm. During this time, entry of pilgrims to the dargah will be restricted. The dargah will be closed on Tuesday, April 1 from 12:45 pm to 3:45 pm and on Wednesday, April 2 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Therefore, we have appealed to the pilgrims not to gather at the dargah during these hours. This information has been released by Tahir, administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah. Pilgrims visit Haji Ali Dargah on Eid-Basi and Tiwasi, but due to the rising water level of the sea, water gets accumulated on the way to the Dargah and entry to the Dargah is prohibited and the gate of the Dargah remains closed during these days, due to which there is a lot of crowd there. Therefore, pilgrims have been requested to come to the Dargah only at the scheduled time.

The police also remains vigilant at the Dargah during the rising sea level, as there is a crowd of pilgrims here during Eid and festivals. The Haji Ali Dargah administration has said that on the occasion of Eid, lakhs of pilgrims visit the Dargah of Haji Ali (RahmatullahAlaih). These pilgrims include pilgrims from the country and abroad, so the Dargah administration has also claimed special security arrangements on Eid. Spiritual scenes are also seen at Haji Ali Dargah during Eid prayers.

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