BMC removes 12,396 banners, boards and posters in five-week drive across Mumbai

The licence department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) removed 12,396 banners, boards, posters, flags and other displays in a five-week drive that ran from October 8 to November 12, 2026. According to the department's report, 15 FIRs or prosecution complaints were also filed against those responsible.

The report records 22 days of action during this period. Banners made up the largest share, with 7,640 removed. Of these, 4,540 were religious or social, 1,959 political and 1,141 commercial.

The BMC also removed 3,869 boards. These included 1,958 religious or social, 1,506 political and 405 commercial boards.

A total of 657 posters were taken down, of which 510 were religious or social, 126 political and 21 commercial. The department also removed 219 flags and registered 11 cases of defacing walls.

The most action was taken on October 21, when 1,756 displays were removed in a single day. They included 665 religious or social banners, 397 religious or social boards and 251 political banners.

On October 22, 1,321 displays were removed, and on October 23, 930. The drive began on October 8 with the removal of 684 displays. After that, the daily figure mostly stayed between 250 and 520. The lowest was 89 displays, removed on October 31.

The last entry in the report, for November 12, shows 668 displays removed. They included 149 political banners, 205 religious or social banners and 100 religious or social boards.

Besides removing the unauthorised displays, the licence department sent 145 letters to police stations seeking action against those responsible. The highest number in a day was 32, on October 19. On October 14, 17 letters were sent, and 12 each on October 21 and 26.

The number of FIRs and prosecution complaints nevertheless remained relatively low. In all, 15 cases were registered during the drive: 10 on November 4, four on October 8, the first day of the drive, and one on November 2.

Of the 11 cases of defacing walls, eight came up on October 13. One case each was registered on October 14, November 3 and November 5.

The figures show that the BMC's action was concentrated around Diwali, with the biggest single-day count recorded on October 21. According to the department's report, the drive continued until November 12.