No pandals, gates, dais on main roads: HC

Nagpur: While expressing apprehension of social unrest over Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) proposed blanket ban on pandals, welcome arches, gates, flexes, banners, hoardings and stages everywhere in the city, Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Friday made some modifications to the policy.
The court made it clear that none of these structures would be permitted on the main roads at any cost.Erecting them at other places, like playgrounds, would require the permission of concerned authorities like traffic police, area police station, fire department, MPCB, besides the civic body, according to petitioner’s counsel Firdos Mirza. However, the definition of ‘main roads’ is as yet unclear.
However, the court didn’t specify the fate of religious pandals which are erected on interior roads during Ganesh, Durga and other festivals in many localities like Mahal, Dharampeth and Mominpura.
The directives came during in-chamber hearing of a plea by Dr Gajanan Zade and Manohar Khorgade, praying for directives to the civic bodies to remove all illegal temporary and permanent structures on roads and public places that have become a nuisance for the common man. NMC commissioner Shravan Hardikar, commissioner of police Sharda Prasad Yadav, government pleader Bharti Dangre, NMC counsel Sudhir Puranik and Mirza attended the hearing.
Earlier, the court had asked NMC commissioner whether he has read the policy submitted on Thursday, and what would be its ramifications if implemented in toto. The court warned such a blanket ban would create social unrest and even the petitioner’s lawyer was not ready to accept NMC’s decision.
The commissioner replied that he acted as per the court’s directives. He informed that the policy was formulated as per directives of court’s principal bench, where NMC was one of the respondents along with all corporations. Citing Clause 6 of the policy, he informed that one of the preconditions for grant of permission to erect temporary structure is to submit no-objection certificate (NOC) from the police department. It would be obtained by the organizers by submitting applications. He informed that now the police have agreed not to issue any NOC to applicants, and also to work in tandem with NMC officials, to prevent such illegal structures.
Petitioners counsel, however, took objection to this, arguing that the same clause had a mention of diverting traffic if permission to erect such structures is granted by NMC and police. He pointed out that in such cases both authorities would divert traffic from main roads, thus troubling motorists and defeating the very purpose of the petition. The judges then made a slight modification in NMC’s policy by clarifying that no pandals, welcome arches, gates, flexes, banners, hoardings and stages would be set up on main roads.
The civic chief in his affidavit pointed out that the policy was prepared in consultation with the police authorities, after they noticed unauthorized display of hoardings, flexes, and signboards at various places including footpaths, roads, and traffic signals. These display boards are erected in the wee hours and as such noticed on the next day or thereafter.
NMC affidavit also classifies unauthorized temporary structures, tents, pandals, stages, and welcome arches found on roads, footpaths, in front of houses and roadside temples. Some of them are erected temporarily for few hours to meet unprecedented situations, like death of a family member. Some are erected for marriages or household or religious celebrations, for a couple of days. The third category are set up for longer duration by religious or social groups for Ganesh, Durga and Dusserah festivities, Dhammachakra Parivartan festival, Ram Navami, Eid, Moharram and Christmas.
The NMC’s detection squad would remove all such structures and seize the material and recover full charges of removal, Hardikar said. He assured that both NMC and police will work together in eradicating the menace of unauthorized structures.
HC drops contempt charges against Hardikar, Karade
The court dropped aggravated contempt charges against NMC commissioner Shravan Hardikar and assistant commissioner (Dharampeth Zone-II) Rajesh Karade after both tendered an unconditional apology. Hardikar was found guilty of contempt for the third time in the same PIL, for not removing an illegal pandal in front of Meetha Neem Dargah. He subsequently suspended Karade, as the area comes under him, accusing him of dereliction of duties. Hardikar tendered another apology in his affidavit on Thursday too.