Skip to Content

Hoardings - can BBMP do it?

ಮೇಲೆ
164 users have liked.

You must have missed this ad BBMP put in newspapers 2 weeks ago. It is an aggressive sounding notice talking about unauthorized hoardings and signboards:

"As per the rules ... exhibitors of illegal advertisements ... banners ... are punishable. Action will be taken against ... by lodging FIR at ... police stations"

Aggressive, isn't it? I recall similar drives they undertook in past, last one being in middle of 2005. Does BBMP have the resources to track down each and every illegal exhibitor out there and file FIRs? I will say not. Do they have the will-power to track down political and 'spiritual' workers who violate this law - "Karnataka Open places (Prevention of disfigurement) 1981" - every other day? Probably not. And mind you, it isn't easy to follow up on these - what if I paste those ugly PG accommodation ads all around the town with your mobile phone number on them!?

May be they do reach out and catch some of these guys each time they start on such a drive? But what's the point if BBMP's actions (FIRs in this case) don't get enough publicity. You can't go and track them all, but the best you can do is to show some teeth. Catch a big guy, punish and make an example of that individual or organization.

Without an exemplified enforcement as a follow-up to show some real teeth and bite, these public notices are mere empty threats. Agree?

ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು

City.Zen's picture

Hoardings - can BBMP do it?

ಮೇಲೆ
136 users have liked, including you.
The best way, from my theoretical point of view, involves just 3 steps:- First, get an assurance of political non-interference from the highest authority in charge of the city. Second, formulate clear-cut rules and regulations. Third, award a contract with exhaustive terms and powers including filing and follow-up of FIRs and cases - the contractor to get a major portion of the fines and penalties. This way, very little demand is made on the time and effort of BMP. The only question is do we have the political will to take these simple steps. City Zen
City Zen
tsubba's picture

aiding & abetting

ಮೇಲೆ
134 users have liked.
i googled around and found Karnataka Open places (Prevention of disfigurement) 1981 online. if you can make sense of it, can you tell if general public is guilty of aiding and abetting the offense, if we don't complain whenever we an illegal hoarding? six mos jail , 1000 rs fine or both. a q on egov... does bbmp have a concise up-to-date and to the point understandable description of its billboard and advertisement code online? zen master, i like your idea of outsourcing. one q though: the fine is 1000 bucks. 500 govt 500 contractor. what if billboard-walla says here is 550 wink wink. what happens then? why would i advertise for pg at my house and give your number?
City.Zen's picture

Hoardings - can BBMP do it?

ಮೇಲೆ
149 users have liked.
Respected Dr. TS: am not even a zen disciple, just an ordinary cityzen with a space after city to indicate the enormous scope for improvement of the city. yes, your point is valid if BMP's main objective is to make money. I feel this issue of 550 wink wink can come later on once the illegal hoardings are completely stopped, which I suppose is the problem now. the pg issue is not clear to me. Is it the same as one party putting up posters of its opponent just to see the latter getting fined? I guess that would be a problem, but I would venture to say that it might be a lesser problem than the rampant illegal hoardings issue. Maybe in such contentious cases, the deciding authority can waive of fines, but the hoardings will be removed in any case.
City Zen
tsubba's picture

agree ...

ಮೇಲೆ
133 users have liked.
it seems strange to address you as city dot zen, so i cooked up a name for you zen master. :) agree with you though. perhaps a more non cynical approach is what is needed. if one is cynical about everything and try to square off too many circles, then one is not likely to get anywhere. dont add too many honorifics to my id, especially bcoz they are all unearned. ;) tarle perhaps?
City.Zen's picture

Hoardings - can BBMP do it?

ಮೇಲೆ
120 users have liked.
OK, Tarle ! The honorifics were inspired by your Kannada writings elsewhere and the respect arose seeing the great work you, sb/p, etc. do here. CityZen
City Zen
tsubba's picture

Interesting Hoarding Stories

ಮೇಲೆ
139 users have liked.
Stories From BBMP Drive at Koramangala Many shop owners objected to removal of advertisement hoardings without prior notice. However, joint commissioner (East zone) S N Nagaraj defended the Palike’s action stating that the Palike informed the public about the drive for many days through the media. Owner of Mushroom restaurant who had put two advertisement boards without permission from the Palike entered into an heated argument with the joint commissioner. He argued that the Palike staff cannot remove hoardings without informing well in advance. He said he never knew that he should take permission to put advertisement boards. The JC replied saying it is the duty of everyone to be aware law of the land and ignorance of law cannot be an excuse. However, after arguing for 10 minutes, the owner agreed to pay the fee for advertisement for one year. Another shopkeeper alleged that BBMP officials were entering business establishments just like sheep. “This is uncalled for. They should issue notice before taking any action against us. We were never told that the Palike will remove hoardings if permission is not taken. All these years we did not take permission at all,” he said. Manager of another hotel who had put six signboards of different sizes without permission agreed to pay fee to the tune of Rs 50,000. The Palike staff collected cheques on the spot and issued receipts. Chief Engineer (East) Srinivas said that the Palike collected more than Rs 2 lakh as fee from shopkeepers during the drive on Wednesday. “We have also removed structures which obstruct movement of pedestrians on footpaths as per the directions of Karnataka High Court. The drive will continue in Koramangala division in the next week. Later, the drive will be continued in other areas as well.” Mr Nagaraj, who led the drive, said “ All these years the Palike lost huge revenue because of unauthorised hoardings. Our target is to increase revenue by collecting fee for all hoardings. As per the advertisement hoarding by-law a commercial establishment is allowed to put up one advertisement hoarding free of cost. Those who put more than one board have to take permission from the Palike and pay the fee.” More than 200 BBMP employees, one earth mover, 10 trucks and tractors were involved in the drive. As many as 10 truck loads of unauthorised advertisement material was removed during the drive.
murali772's picture

letting the inspector raaj loose

ಮೇಲೆ
123 users have liked.

Cash-strapped Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) seems to be exploring various options to collect more revenue. Mayor B S Sathyanarayana, who has been conducting review meetings with various departments for the past three days, told reporters on Friday that plans were afoot to collect advertisement tax from companies  that advertise in front of shops. - - - “Even if we charge Rs 500-1,000 per display, we will earn crores in revenue. There is no need for us to bring this to the Council for approval. The BBMP Advertisement Department is authorised to levy tax on these boards,” he said. The Mayor said tax inspectors have been directed to visit 25 defaulters’ properties each day and collect fines.

For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.

This is just letting lose the inspector raaj, for some pittance by way of revenue. The Mayor would do well instead to press for professionalisation of property tax collection, which will get him and his city all the revenue that is required - check this.

Muralidhar Rao

Praja.in comment guidelines

Posting Guidelines apply for comments as well. No foul language, hate mongering or personal attacks. If criticizing third person or an authority, you must be fact based, as constructive as possible, and use gentle words. Avoid going off-topic no matter how nice your comment is. Moderators reserve the right to either edit or simply delete comments that don't meet these guidelines. If you are nice enough to realize you violated the guidelines, please save Moderators some time by editing and fixing yourself. Thanks!



about seo | blog