The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to launch a drive against illegal hoardings put up across the City soon.

A
15-member team, under the supervision of BMC Project Officer Srimanta
Mishra, will conduct the drive in a week’s time. Since the restoration
work in the aftermath of cyclone is yet to be completed, the drive will
be conducted after a week to make it more effective. The team will raid
the commercial establishments across the city in a phase manner.

Private
rooftop hoardings, small shops who have not acquired BMC licence for
their hoardings and illegal billboards will be under scanner of the BMC.

A
commercial establishment is supposed to take permission from BMC for
putting up any kind of hoarding or billboard. The drive, which was
initially supposed to begin after the Dussehra vacation, was postponed
as majority of BMC staff were engaged in restoration work.

“Ideally
a shop is allowed to put up just one hoarding. But most of the shops
violate the rules and put up more than one hoarding without our
permission. We will either penalise the shop owners or confiscate their
hoardings,” said Mishra. Portable hoardings, used for promotional
events, will also be removed if they have been put up without
permission.

Notices will be issued against the illegal hoardings
in private property, asking them to pull down the structures within a
stipulated time. If the defaulter does not respond, the hoardings will
be removed by BMC and the defaulter penalised.

BMC generates about
Rs 2.4 crore from trade fees and roughly Rs 2.5 crore from licence fees
collected from private commercial establishments. BMC has erected
hoardings throughout the city where advertisements can be put up and the
shop-keepers are expected to advertise through these hoardings.