Mumbai to have New York Times Square-like digital billboards

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to revise its policy on hoardings to allow their installation in the city. The civic body considered to allow replacement of existing billboards or hoardings with digital ones after representatives of Mumbai Hoarding Owners Associations suggested it. The policy is yet to be approved by civic chief Ajoy Mehta. The civic body has also decided to implement the decision in phases to see the response. The billboards will first be put up at public places like Juhu beach and various areas in Bandra on a trial basis. According to the plan, the existing hoardings will be replaced with LED screens which will display static ads, while hoardings near highways will be the same.

The civic body will also issue live updates and warnings during natural disasters and emergencies through these digital billboards. The policy will be made public in mid-December after which the BMC will set a time frame to invite suggestions and objections from citizens, said the officials. The BMC is planning such policy after 10 years. Currently, the hoardings and billboards are largely made of printed flexboards or other synthetic material. The city has around 2,000 billboards and hoardings on public and private properties which were put up by private contractors who get pay a premium for them to the civic body.