Thane civic body launches drive against illegal hoardings after Shinde's directive

Thane, Jul 14 (PTI) The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has launched a drive against illegal hoardings following a directive from Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, an instruction coming a day after a hoarding-related accident in the city. Shinde, an MLA from Thane, has directed the TMC to immediately remove all illegal hoardings and conduct structural audits of all large advertising billboards in the city, according to a release issued by his office on Tuesday. Following the directive, the TMC has launched a special drive against illegal hoardings, it said. Taking serious note of the July 13 incident wherein a massive birthday banner collapsed from a foot overbridge, the Deputy CM spoke to the Thane Municipal Commissioner and instructed the civic administration to launch an immediate drive against unauthorised hoardings, it said. Motorists had a narrow escape in the hoarding crash. "The Deputy Chief Minister also ordered that structural audits of all large hoardings be carried out on priority to ensure similar accidents do not recur during the ongoing monsoon, when strong winds and heavy rains can weaken such structures," stated the release. He directed the civic administration to identify hoardings that pose a risk to people's safety and initiate strict legal action against those responsible for installing illegal advertising structures, it said. The release, however, did not specify the number of unauthorised hoardings identified or removed during the drive which started on Monday night. PTI COR RSY