THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite strict directive from the High Court (HC), illegal flex boards, political hoardings, banners and flagpoles continue to haunt the capital creating inconvenience to the public and motorists alike. Thiruvananthapuram, being the political capital, hosts almost every convention and events of political parties and service organisations and the HC directive gets flouted right under the nose of the authorities.
Footpaths, hand railings and even the traffic medians are not spared by the political organisations. The city corporation continues to turn a blind eye as the large majority of the hoardings and flagpoles have been put up by the ruling party itself.
The civic body has identified around 1,620 political flag posts in the capital. A senior official told TNIE that a majority of the flagpoles belong to the ruling front.
“The mayor had convened an all-party meeting recently with the political parties and service organisations. But they are not willing to remove the poles. Some of them are not willing to accept the HC order and claim that they haven’t got any notice from the court. We removed around 600 hoardings of various political parties recently. The problem is almost conventions and meetings of political parties and service organisations happen in the capital. They don’t remove them after the event,” said the official.
In February 2021, the HC gave an ultimatum to the state authorities to remove all poles, frames or structures for arches, boards, placards, display boards, banners and hoardings erected on highways, public roads and pedestrian pathways.
The HC had also directed the secretaries and heads of the local self-government department (LSGD), public works department (PWD) and state highways to give instructions to ensure effective implementation of the direction.
Following the HC directive, the civic body has deployed a special officer to ensure the removal of flag posts and hoardings within the corporation limits.
“The civic body has sanctioned Rs 50,000 for the purpose. There may be a need for additional labour to remove illegally erected poles and hoardings. We may need to hire machinery for removing them. Continuous and concerted efforts are required to put an end to this menace,” said the official.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Traffic (South) Arun Raj said unscientifically located flagpoles and hoardings are a huge inconvenience for the public.
“The problem arises when they erect hoardings blocking the pedestrian ways. People are forced to walk on the roads and the projections in the hoardings and the wooden frames also pose a danger to motorists and pedestrians. The situation becomes worse when they put up all these in the traffic median medians. The projections from these hoarding and flagpoles lead to road accidents. We normally remove them immediately,” said Arun Raj. An official of the civic body said the political parties lack civic sense.
“We need to cultivate a system by which all these are done in an organised manner. The civic body should allot designated spaces for putting up hoardings and flagpoles and ensure they are removed once the event or convention is over. There needs to be a system in place. Now, these organisations put up hoardings, banners and flagpoles wherever they think is convenient to them. This should change,” said the official.
Federation of Residents Association, Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT) general secretary M S Venugopal said the HC should have been more specific on the department that should be removing the hoardings.
“Actually, the responsibility to remove unscientifically located hoardings should be given to the traffic authorities. They are the experts in the matter. The political parties are least bothered about the issues of the public. If they value the issues of the public, they wouldn’t do such a thing in the first place. There is no space for the public and public spaces are being used for such purposes. The civic body is using tax payers’ money to remove these hoardings, instead of making the parties pay for it,” said Venugopal.
Key points of HC directive
The road safety commissioner/transport commissioner must look into the negative impact of roadside advertisements as per the ‘Policy on Roadside Advertisements’ published by the Indian Road Congress
What’s the hold up
Following the HC directive, the civic body has deployed a special officer to ensure the removal of flag posts and hoardings within the corporation limits. The corporation has sanctioned C50,000 for the purpose. However, they might need additional labourers and machinery to lift the hoardings.