The Indian Express   30.08.2012

Outdoor ad policy pending state nod, corporators want licence renewed

Citing revenue loss owing to non-renewal of licence for billboards,
with a set of laws for outdoor ads passed by the Pune Municipal
Corporation two years ago pending approval of the state government,
political parties are now putting pressure on the PMC administration to
renew licence of hoardings instead of waiting for the state government
nod.

The new regulations had been passed by the PMC to improve the
skyline scarred by posters, billboards sprouting up in every available
space.

At a recent meeting of party leaders, Mayor Vaishali Bankar
raised the issue. “PMC is losing revenue as licences are not being
renewed. Therefore, the civic administration should start giving
permission to allow existing hoardings,” she said.

The mayor’s demand was backed by leaders of most political
parties, barring a few corporators who argued that implementation of the
policy was in the interest of civic body as it would generate a much
higher revenue.

The civic administration, meanwhile, clarified that permission
can be given only if the hoardings met certain conditions laid down in
the new policy and said no hoarding fits the bill as of now.

“PMC would get six times the revenue if the policy is
implemented. Therefore, allowing ads ignoring the policy would lead to a
financial loss for the civic body,” Municipal Commissioner Mahesh
Pathak told the party leaders.

In the civic general body meeting, the civic chief had urged
corporators to urge the state government to approve the policy so that
it is implemented with immediate effect.

The civic administration had floated tenders for ads as per the
policy and said it had received a “good response” with assurance of
six-times the normal revenue. The Outdoor Hoarding Association had taken
the civic body to court against the decision and the civic
administration could not issue work orders to agencies that were to get
the contract.

In its amended policy, the civic administration has divided the
PMC into 116 units for outdoor advertisements. It proposes “no hoarding
zones” in various pockets and restrictions on hoardings and banners
within 200 metres of schools, colleges, hospitals and police stations.

The look of the city roads lined by hoardings and banners on both
sides will change once the policy comes into effect, as a gap of at
least 20 metres has been proposed between two hoardings. No hoarding
will be allowed perpendicular to the road, officials said.

All hoardings will be parallel to roads and will have a maximum
tilt of 30 degrees so as to not distract drivers. The trend of “building
roofs” for hoardings will also be stopped. The policy would also check
advertising campaigns on roads and use of public address systems for
advertisements.