Mumbai: The Maharashtra Maritime Board plans to install floating advertisements and hoardings at around 20 locations along the city’s coastline. The proposed sites include Juhu Beach, Carter Road, Marve Jetty and around the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
According to The Times of India, the MMB has invited bids from agencies to set up and manage the advertisements. Some advertisements will be placed on barges floating in the water, while others will be regular hoardings near beaches and jetties.
The board has also issued separate tenders for floating advertisements at Juhu Beach, Lotus Jetty and the Sea Link jetty in Worli. Carter Road and Marve Jetty are among the locations proposed for hoardings. The tenders were issued in late September, and deadlines for several of them have been extended to 27 October.
The idea is to raise money for the board’s port facilities and water transport projects. The agencies selected will pay for the advertisements, install them and take care of their maintenance. In return, they will get advertising rights at these locations.
Maharashtra Ports and Fisheries Minister Nitesh Rane told The Times of India that the board had previously only issued no-objection certificates for advertisements. Under the new policy, it would be able to earn money from them. However, not everyone supports the idea.
Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar is among those unhappy with the proposal.
“Please no!!!” Akhtar commented Friday on an Instagram post by HW News English about the plan.
There are also questions about whether the advertisements can be installed along the coast. The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority said the proposed installations lacked the required clearances under Coastal Regulation Zone rules. Rane has said the advertisements will follow environmental and coastal regulations.
Environmental groups have been raising concerns about the policy for months. In May, the Awaaz Foundation wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about the effect of illuminated advertisements along the coast. The group warned that bright lights could disturb birds, marine life, and affect residents, as well as add to light pollution.
In April, the Bandra West Residents Association had objected to the policy, saying beaches and promenades should be kept free of advertisements. The association also pointed out that residents had been maintaining the Carter Road promenade for more than two decades.
“There are many other methods of generating revenue to maintain these public open spaces,” the association said in a letter to the board.
Rane had defended the policy at the time, saying the board needed to find new ways to earn money.
“The rates will be competitive, and it will be a win-win for both MMB and advertisers,” he added.
For now, the board has only invited bids. No date has been announced for the installations.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)