MNS raises red flag over illegal hoardings in Thane, warns of monsoon havoc

Despite the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) having taken down over 3,900 unauthorized hoardings and banners as recently as December, the city’s skyline is once again cluttered with illegal outdoor ads—raising fresh concerns about public safety and governance ahead of the monsoon.

In a sharp warning issued to TMC, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) General Secretary Sandeep Pachange has accused the civic body of inaction despite internal directives being issued two years ago by its advertising department to the encroachment wing.

“The threat isn’t just visual pollution—these hoardings can kill,” Pachange said, pointing to last year’s Ghatkopar billboard collapse that claimed 17 lives.

Pachange alleges that illegal hoardings continue to stand tall since 2023 in front of Singhania school and Hiranandani Meadows posing risk to lives of hundreds of students and residents. 

“These two hoardings were erected by advertisers on toilets made on footpaths. The toilets were constructed free of cost and with an agreement with TMC. Hoardings were erected in lieu of bearing that cost. Toilets and hoardings both are illegal, TMC’s advertising department itself agrees and calls for action. However, its anti-encroachment department has not been able to remove it as the advertisers are politically connected,” Pachange, who had written to TMC in this regard on May 12, told e4m.

This comes at a time when municipal inaction is drawing increasing scrutiny, not just from activists and opposition leaders, but also from the judiciary. The Bombay High Court recently reprimanded TMC for its delayed response to the unauthorised hoardings menace—an issue Pachange himself escalated through a public interest petition.

After receiving no response to his earlier plea, Pachange now plans to take TMC once again before the Bombay High Court.

e4m reached out to the TMC Deputy Commissioner Dinesh Tayde for his comments. His response was awaited till the time of writing these lines. The copy will be updated as and when he responds. 

Activists point to a broken compliance pipeline and poor coordination between civic departments, “There’s an ecosystem thriving on the grey areas of civic advertising.”

This incident also highlights broader cracks in India’s out-of-home (OOH) advertising governance across Maharashtra and other parts of the country. 

The state sought to implement a brand new OOH policy last year, following an outcry over the Ghatkopar tragedy. A committee headed by Justice Dilip Deshmukh-led was assigned to frame new guidelines which could govern the out-of-home (OOH) industry more effectively and ensure the safety of the public from hoardings. The committee had reportedly submitted its report but it is yet to be implemented. 

The pressure for cleaner, legally compliant ad infrastructure is now mounting across city administrations because illegal hoardings don’t just pose safety risks—they also result in significant revenue loss for municipalities. 

As the monsoon approaches, industry observers and watchdogs warn that the city’s failure to act swiftly may have tragic consequences. The hoarding chaos isn’t just a civic nuisance—it’s a case study in the high-stakes intersection of urban safety, regulatory laxity, and opaque advertising practices, civic experts noted.