Mis-Ad-venture

Mis-Ad-venture
Traffic signal poles in the central business district have turned mainstays for illegal advertisements and hoardings, confounding motorists and infuriating the police, who have no means to combat the menace
M K ASHOKA


If there is a will, there will be a way, seems to be the motto of city’s advertisers, who are leaving no stone unturned, least of all traffic signal posts and signs, to get that extra mileage for products and services.
These days, apart from managing the traffic in the very busy central business district, cops of the Ashoknagar Traffic Police Station have the onerous duty of keeping the horde of veritable advertisers from encroaching on the traffic signal posts.
The most rampant of these enterprising entrepeneurs are the shopkeepers onBrigade Road and Rest House Road, who have no qualms in putting up hoardings on signal poles to the utter consternation and confusion of motorists and other public using these roads.
The police, certainly, are not amused as this was not a part of the bargain. But, with the signals serving little purpose, they have no choice.
When queried, Inspector Geetha Kulkarni of Ashoknagar Traffic Police Station raised helpless hands at the menace which the police have to put up with.
“We have written a letter to BBMP urging them to remove advertisements from the traffic sign poles. We are also planning to have night patrolling in these roads as the shopkeepers put up the advertisements late at night. Our cops are removing them in the morning but it is of no use,” Kulkarni said.
Despite warnings, the shopkeepers give a damn to regulation and go on putting up advertisement boards wherever they feel like. “If the shopkeepers do not desist themselves from misusing traffic sign poles, a criminal case can be booked against them,” a senior BBMP official said. As per regulations, anyone planning to put up a hoarding or banner have to take BBMP’s permission after paying a fee. Boards installed without prior permission are illegal, he said.
The Brigade Road Shops and Establishments Association, which takes up several pro-public measures, meanwhile, have done nothing to curb the signal menace.