BBMP to outsource upkeep of underpasses

BBMP to outsource upkeep of underpasses

Afshan Yasmeen

The move is part of image makeover as the new airport will bring in more visitors

Some of the boards will display flight timings

Maintenance of five underpasses to be outsourced

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

VISUAL POLLUTION: Posters pasted on the pillars of the Town Hall-Sirsi Circle flyover on Mysore Road in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: “Bhool Bhulaiyya, Varata, Om Shanti Om, Krishna, Aa Dinagalu, Ee Bandhana,” “Happy birthday to our leader, Eid Mubarak, Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy Deepavali” — if such posters and hoardings put up haphazardly under and above flyovers and underpasses in the city are distracting you, then here is a breather.

Come March, you will not be distracted by the huge hoardings and clumsy posters while zooming past underpasses or flyovers. Instead, you will be treated to modern, aesthetic and pleasing advertisement backlit glow signs and electronic display systems. Some of these boards will also display international and domestic flight arrival and departure timings.

To check visual pollution and also ensure an aesthetic look under and above all the underpasses and flyovers, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has proposed to let out maintenance of five underpasses (Mehkri Circle, Cantonment, Nehrunagar, Rajajinagar Entrance and West of Chord Road-Modi Hospital junction) and two flyovers (Sirsi Circle and Richmond Circle) in the city to outdoor advertising agencies. Based on the Delhi advertisement model, this measure is to ensure that the beauty of the city’s infrastructure projects is not marred by wall posters, hoardings and other graffiti.

The civic body has already invited tenders from outdoor advertisers, who wish to take up maintenance of these facilities on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.

The firms that bag the contract will get advertisement rights for three years and the civic body will get revenue in the form of licence fee, advertisement tax and service tax. The contractor will be allowed to put up 20 backlit glow signs of the prescribed size, LED systems and four advertisement panels on the entry and exit points of the facilities. The agencies will have to adhere to size, design, structure and material specifications prescribed by the civic body.

BBMP Additional Commissioner (Advertisements) G.M. Gangadharswamy told The Hindu that the outsourcing was also aimed at creating an “image” for the city. “With the international airport all set to be operational from March, the city will have a lot of foreign visitors.

The LED system at Mehkri Circle underpass (en route to the airport) will display international flight arrival and departure timings, traffic and social messages,” he said.

The civic body will penalise the contractor if the facilities are not cleaned and maintained twice daily.

While a penalty will be slapped for violation of tender conditions till 60 days, the licence will be cancelled after 90 days.