THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Attukal Pongala festival fast approaching, unauthorised flex boards have mushroomed across the capital, taking over roadsides, junctions, and public spaces in blatant violation of High Court directives.
Despite continued monitoring by the High Court and an ongoing enforcement drive by the city corporation, flex boards linked to the festival have surfaced in almost every nook and corner of the capital. Out of fear of hurting the religious sentiments in view of the upcoming assembly elections, the district and civic authorities are unable to take any solid action leaving them mere spectators of the violations. The plan to convene an all-party meeting to address the flex menace by the corporation is yet to happen.
An official in charge of LSGD told TNIE that a district-level independent team has been constituted for the first time to take action against the erection of unauthorised flex boards. As per the recent HC order, the joint director of LSGD and district police chief have been given the responsibility of enforcing the HC order. “Our team has launched special drives and it’s a sticky situation because it’s a religious festival. Elections are fast approaching and any action could trigger communal issues and might turn political. Hence we have directed our team to tactfully deal with such violations,” said the official.
With the pongala festival inching closer, political and cultural associations, residents associations have put up flex boards everywhere. V Sobha, president of Attukal Bhagavathy Temple Trust, said that they are using cloth banners in the temple premises. “The temple trust has no control over others putting up flex boards and banners related to the festival. In every preparatory meeting, we have advised all organisations to reduce waste and follow green protocol,” said Sobha.
The surge in illegal flexes comes even after the corporation had intensified its crackdown on illegal hoardings following the prime minister’s recent visit to the city, during which a mass clean-up drive was carried out to remove unauthorised hoardings following HC intervention. The civic body has slapped a fine of Rs 20 lakh on the district BJP authorities for defacing the city with illegal hoardings related to the PM’s visit. Subsequently, thousands of hoardings were removed.
However, the enforcement has weakened, with violations reappearing in large numbers ahead of the festival. Amicus Curiae to the HC, Harish Vasudevan, said that the police and the local bodies are inactive and taking action just for namesake. “The police are not very keen to file the charge sheet after taking FIRs. Legal action should be taken against the violators so that such offense does not get repeated. These violations are happening repeatedly because the enforcement is weak.
The local body has the responsibility to initiate action against each and every flex board but they never do that. Imposing fines alone will not help,” said Harish Vasudevan.
Mayor V V Rajesh said that all party meetings will be convened soon to reach a consensus on putting up flex boards. “Our aim is to weed out flexes in a phased manner. In phase I, our idea is to put forward certain suggestions -- the stretch from East Fort to Kowdiar should be free of flexes. Medians, traffic islands and handrailings should be avoided. The meeting will be held immediately,” said Rajesh.