Mandals say no to tobacco & liquor ads

The Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvaya Samiti,the umbrella organisation of all mandals,has urged them to keep surrogate ads too out. Samiti president Naresh Dahibawkar said mandals’ dependence had gone down over the past two-three years. “Till five years ago,mandals used to heavily rely on tobacco companies for sponsorship. Following the ban,this has decreased considerably as mandals themselves are avoiding such sponsorship. When we requested mandals not to display direct gutkha ads or surrogate advertisements,not many opposed it,” said Dahibawkar.

The BMC’s superintendent of licences S. Kharat said despite the ban,certain mandals every year flout the norms. “Even after the ban,direct or indirect advertisement was going on. For example,ads for these companies’ atta and mineral water were being put up,with atta written in very small letters. In many such cases,these products did not even exist. It is a welcome move that the mandals have themselves decided to refrain from such advertising,” said Kharat.