Aaditya Thackeray writes to Fadnavis seeking halt to floating hoardings in Mumbai sea

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray has criticised the state government's move to put up "floating hoardings" in the sea off Mumbai. He described the decision as "highly irresponsible, possibly corrupt and a blight on Mumbai's beauty".

The Maharashtra Maritime Board has invited tenders for floating advertisements on barges at the city's main seafronts. On October 28, Thackeray wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the matter. In the letter he said, "I am writing to you to register my clear objection to the defacement of the city by now adding 'floating hoardings' to the sea."

Thackeray wrote, "First of all, sir, because of unchecked pollution and the lack of any serious action against it, most people in the city cannot see the sea even a little distance from the shore." According to him, after this absurd decision, which benefits a group of hoarding contractors, all that citizens will see are advertisements pasted in front of their faces, even as they already bear the brunt of pollution on land.

The letter also said there should be a policy to curb LED hoardings that trouble citizens at night. Thackeray wrote, "Beauty should be preferred over a cartel, but sadly this decision chooses contractors over beauty. I urge you to intervene and stop this decision, which is highly irresponsible, possibly corrupt and certainly damaging to the beauty of Mumbai."

Marine experts have also commented on the issue. Shaunak Modi, a marine ecologist, director of the Coastal Conservation Foundation and founder of Marine Life of Mumbai, said, "LED billboards can disrupt the entire coastal food web. Marine life along Mumbai's coast is already struggling with constant light pollution from land, and floating billboards will wipe out the last remaining patches of darkness on the water."

Modi added, "The harsh blue light of these billboards will suppress the nightly migration of plankton, making baitfish easy prey. Such intense light will also mask the natural lunar cues that intertidal organisms need for spawning and feeding. Add to this the constant underwater hum of the barges' power generators, in the habitats of dolphins and porpoises, and you are taking away Mumbai's marine life's last dark and quiet refuges."

Dr Prachi Hatkar, a marine conservationist at the Advanced Research Centre for Ecology and Conservation, DES Pune University, said, "Mumbai's coast is a living ecosystem, not advertising space. Illuminated floating hoardings can affect marine life and migratory birds through light pollution, underwater noise, vessel movement and disturbance to feeding and resting areas."

Dr Hatkar said, "Before permission is given to install these, especially near sensitive habitats, there should be a separate ecological assessment of the site. Mumbai's coastal biodiversity should not pay the price for commercial interests."