Besides defacing public spaces, these advertising materials are also causing traffic snarls, it said. Pune: A civic group, in a letter to the Pune municipal corporation has sought the immediate removal of illegal flex banners and posters put up across the city during Ganeshotsav.
Meanwhile, PMC officials said the Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 1995, empowers authorities to take punitive action against individuals or entities defacing public property.
“Some of these materials put up near traffic signals, several of them set up rather precariously, are creating a major nuisance for commuters,” said Sandip Khardekar, president of Creative Foundation, the local civic organisation. The elected representatives must be held accountable for all of this,” said Shyamala Desai, a resident. “Under these statutory provisions, legal action is actively being initiated against those responsible for installing illegal promotional materials,” said a senior PMC official.