On May 23, City Express had reported about the hoarding mess that the city witnessed following the election results. Then, Bruhat Bangalore Mahangara Palike (BBMP) had given a deadline to all political parties to remove the unauthorised hoardings within 24 hours.
Venkateshappa, Joint Commissioner of east zone had said that 'a directive has been issued on May 21 and it will last for 24 hours. Those failing to abide by it will face serious action.'
But, as always, the directive was given a cold shoulder. Almost about 30,000-40,000 cases came to light, wherein the hoardings or its structures held fort.
Now, to deal with the issue of unauthorised political hoardings and posters, D Kiran, Additional Commissioner (Finance) and incharge of advertising in BBMP has presented a proposal to the BBMP commissioner to invite tenders for hiring people to remove the structures supporting the posters and hoardings in the city.
Commenting on the recurrence of these hoardings, flexes, buntings, etc., Kiran said, "Once the tender is passed, we will have a proper enforcement team and this will bring down the issue to a large extent. The team will be able to give us a proper report on the present situations in different parts of the city. Currently, we just remove the posters or the hoardings but the structure, on which it is supported, remains. As a result, the very next day another poster or hoarding comes up on it."
Kiran feels the major problem lies in the laws that are in place. He said, "There is a need to amend the advertising laws. The laws are not adequate and are weak to tackle the issue. Though, we have booked all the cases of unauthorised political hoardings, as of now, that is all we can do as under the present act, we can book only civil cases and it is supported by some form of penalty. Unlike income tax, where once you are deemed a defaulter, the officials have full authority to take stringent action."