BANNER BLITZ: A glimpse of the banners put up by politicians, electoral aspirants and social workers across central Mapusa. Agnelo Pereira
MAPUSA
Mapusa is witnessing a banner war even before the election battle has formally begun. With Assembly and civic elections expected in the next three to four months and a packed festival calendar ahead, aspiring candidates are scrambling for visibility, turning the town’s streets, junctions and public spaces into a battleground for banners and billboards.
From Dussehra greetings to political publicity announcing their electoral ambitions, banners are springing up at every available corner. But as the race for public attention intensifies, so does the challenge of keeping the town’s streets free of unauthorised displays.
For the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC), the exercise has become a frustrating cycle of removal and reappearance. Civic staff pulls down banners erected without permission, only to find fresh ones occupying the same spots the following night. MMC Chairperson Kaushik Desai likened the situation to “guerrilla warfare”, admitting that the council’s efforts to enforce its rules are being undermined by the repeated return of unauthorised banners.
“The municipal inspectors and staff go on a drive and confiscate all those banners which have no permission, but the very next day the banners come up again,” Desai said. He said several people were putting up banners without even applying for permission, forcing the civic body to repeatedly step up enforcement.
The scale of the problem was evident on October 17, when the civic body removed 73 banners and 21 flex boards in a single day.
Desai said the council was carrying out drives almost every week and would continue to act against unauthorised displays.
“If any unauthorised banners are there, the council will definitely take action. We are doing it almost on a weekly basis,” he said.
A race for space
With the election season approaching, the proliferation of banners raises questions not just about civic enforcement but also about how political aspirants occupy public spaces in the race for visibility. The civic body charges a fee of Rs 1,000 for each banner. According to Desai, the council maintains records of approved displays, including the number of banners permitted and the locations where they can be erected. “When we give permission, we have a record. When they submit an application, they are supposed to give the location and the number of banners they intend to put up,” he said. The approval system is intended to allow civic staff to distinguish authorised banners from those put up in violation of the rules. However, the repeated appearance of unauthorised displays suggests that monitoring the town’s public spaces is proving difficult, particularly when banners are erected overnight.
Could become a bigger problem
Coordinator of GOACAN Roland Martins warned that the problem could escalate across the State as successive elections and major festivals bring another wave of banners into public spaces. He said the unchecked erection of banners could create environmental and road safety concerns, besides damaging the visual appeal of towns. “Political banners are hoisted anyhow and anywhere, spoiling the look of the town. We will face environmental and road safety problems, besides the issue of aesthetics,” Martins said. Rather than relying solely on repeated removal drives, Martins suggested that the MMC consider designating a prominent location where banners could be displayed in an organised manner. “MMC can designate an area where all such banners can be put up. It should be done at a prominent place because they pay fees for the banners,” he said. He also called for the revenue collected through banner fees to be channelled back into maintaining an orderly system for displaying them.
