Hoarding owners up in arms against BMC order

The fight between outdoor media site owners in Mumbai and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has taken an new turn with the BMC threatening to revoke the licence of the site owners if they do not stop protesting against the corporation's new guidelines.

Early this week hoardings in Mumbai were carrying familiar messages of protest against the BMC's proposed guidelines for outdoor advertising in Mumbai.

According to the proposed guidelines issued by the BMC to hoarding contractors in Mumbai, is a proposed ban on hoardings in five wards in the area of Colaba to Byculla to protect the heritage buildings in the city. The corporation also intends to reduce the size of the hoardings and billboards to a standard size.

Also billboards on terraces and top floors of buildings will be required to keep the architecture of the building in mind and get a no-objection certificate (NoC) from residents living on the top floor.

"When a billboard is installed in a building we take permission from the society. What's the need of this new permission," asks Yogesh Lakhani, managing director and chairman, Bright Outdoor Media.

Industry body, the Maharashtra Hoarding Owners Association (MHOA) claims that the guidelines were framed without consulting the stakeholders.

"Heritage buildings are only in ward A which includes areas like Colaba. The ban up till Byculla is unfair," said Nitin Shivsagar, general manager, Selvel publicity.

The ban is likely to impact about 10,000 wage earners who are employed in the hoarding business like artists, painters, mounters, fabricators and other workers, claim industry sources.

"In the past, BMC has been consulting us on all the issues related to the industry. I don't know the reason behind leaving us out this time," said D K Bandekar, chairman MHOA.

There are more than 2,300 hoardings in the city and the estimated size of the domestic hoarding industry is Rs 1,500 crore with a growth rate of 20-25 percent. The hoarding industry claims that it pays BMC nearly 4 per cent of its revenue (Rs 60 crore) as taxes every year.

"Many buildings have subsidised their maintenance charges by allowing a billboards to be put up. If the billboards go then the members of the society will have to pay more," says Yash Gala, managing director, Zenith Outdoors.

However, R A Rajeev, additional commissioner BMC believes that when the decision to install a billboard on a building is being considered the people living on the top floors are not considered as they are in minority.

"Billboards when installed give rise to various problems for the residents of the top floors like leakages and cracks. These are harmful for the building as a whole," he said.

"The guidelines being proposed have been made keeping Delhi and Bangalore in mind. But what works for these two cities may not work for Mumbai," says Sanjeev Hajela, president, Primesite. Hajela refuses to accept the argument being given by BMC about protection of the heritage sites.

"Heritage sites and hoardings can co-exist," he said. Incidentally in Delhi, a new policy is being framed which strives to achieve better synergies between heritage sites, hoardings.

"The size 30X15 works for a terrace in Bangalore or Delhi but it will not work in Mumbai. Here we have all high rise buildings. People wont be able to get the message. The whole thing is pretty unfair," said Gala.

Industry experts believe that in the whole matter, corporates investing in the medium will be affected the most.

According to Gala, "Corporates make an investment hoping to get returns. In the current scenario the corporates will face huge losses. They should be given time to at least get their investments back."