Defacement of City? Blame it on politics

Defacement of City? Blame it on politics
Deccan Herald

Smiling faces of ‘larger than life‘ netas with folded hands will continue to greet you on the City roads. The latest point of reference is the huge cut-outs to welcome AICC chief Sonia Gandhi along the road joining Mekhri Circle to Windsor Manor bridge. While, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa are not lagging behind either. Recently, their faces were omni-present, even as they peeped out of banners luring the masses towards the ‘Suvarna Sakshara Andolana’ (adult literacy campaign).

Even the birthday celebrations of senior leaders are always loud with graffitis and cut-outs mushrooming across the City.

Citizens are free to call them an eyesore, aesthetically challenged or ‘preventable’ cause of accidents. But the graffitis, cut-outs and banners are here to stay. Reason: The new advertisement bylaw is counting on the banners and cut-outs to augment BMP’s revenue. That is not all, the bylaw also seems to have overlooked the importance of imposing size and display restrictions. Last year, the BMP earned a revenue of Rs 5.6 lakh from the political cut-outs and banners alone. And with the revision in the rates, the BMP is hoping for a larger chunk of money. A growing concern, as BMP officials claim, is the blatant violations and disregard for law among the political parties.

Permission

Says a senior BMP official, “Most political parties seek permission for a handful of cut-outs and banners and go all out and erect as many cut-outs that pleases them. The BMP is not only losing out on revenue, but is unable to punish the culprits as the banners or cut-outs do not bear any address.” The enforcement wing of the BMP is helpless too. “Any legal cut-out or banner have the BMP seal and they are erected only after the BMP officials inspect the spot. However, we are unable to curb the menace as we cannot catch the culprit red-handed. We hope to step up the drive against illegal banners, posters and cut-outs from September 3,” says another BMP official.

The recent initiatives of the BMP Commissioner to sensitise political parties to the poster and graffiti menace has not had the desired effect. “We need an amendment to the bylaw that can restrict number of graffiti, cut-outs and banners and also the size and display area,” asserts a BMP official.