BMP faces hurdles in enforcing hoardings ban

Strong lobby pushing officials to the wall
Times of India

“The advertisement lobby is so strong that officials are working against all odds.’’ Throwing up his arms, BCC commissioner K. Jothiramalingam told the council when it was rocked by hoarding mismanagement issue last week. He proposed to bring in a amendment to ban hoardings in city.

But why’s the advertisement department of the BCC always under fire for its mismanagement, so much so that it has been labelled ‘hotbed of scandals’. This, notwithstanding, the Lok Ayukta raid and the subsequent inquiry into the hoarding irregularities.

A strong advertising lobby, coupled with interference by elected representatives and official apathy, including that from the defunct legal section, have been responsible for the sorry state of affairs.

To begin with, here is an instance to explain how powerful the ad-lobby is: Two years ago, the BCC dropped a bombshell in its budget — to ban hoardings creating ripples in the advertising and political circles. But it took just a week for the lobby ensure that the ban on hoardings is withdrawn. Among the series of additional resolutions passed along with the budget, the council had passed a resolution, discreetly, to revert the hoardings order!

For the record, there are nearly 1,500 hoardings in the city and licence for 796 hoardings have been renewed. Recently, the BCC has given approval for 150 hoardings. But in reality, the city has not less than 2,000 hoardings and nearly 80% of them have violated norms. Last year, after Lok Ayukta’s diktat to BCC to remove hoardings, the authorities launched a massive drive to remove bill-boards. But after a brief lull, the hoardings reappeared.

The commissioner, who explained how the lobby operates, narrated this incident: A few days ago, when the BCC launched its operation to dismantle all illegal hoardings that had come up overnight near Makkala Koota, the work could not be carried out. Reason: non-cooperation movement of policemen!. Jothiramalingam was forced to speak to the police commissioner about providing police security to carry out the operation.

On the otherhand, the elected representatives, who make a lot of noise about the issue should carry some blame, sources pointed out. While, they operate several hoardings in ‘benami’ names, it is a herculean task for BCC officials to even touch such hoardings.

Authorities have not been able to remove over a dozen unauthorised hoardings put up by a former MLA. These hoardings are massive in size, ranging from 28 ft by 50 ft to 80 ft by 30 ft. In last December, the BCC had slapped a fine of Rs 11 lakh. But it is yet to be recovered from the former MLA.

THE MESSY STORY

Prescribed size of a hoarding is 24 ft by 12 ft and the maximum height from ground is 30 feet. But the existing hoardings are more than 50 ft. BCC charges Rs 57.5 per sq mt as per its by-laws; for a 24 ft by 12 ft size hoarding, it charges Rs 20,000 for six months. More than 250 hoardings are situated on the railway and defence properties from which the BCC does not get any revenue. Hoardings in upmarket areas are put up on the fifth floor of buildings that are above 80 feet from ground.