The Statesman 29.05.2013
KMC seeks hoarding details from Eastern Rly
Senior KMC officials said the KMC Act 1980 categorically states that to put up any billboard in the city, KMC's permission is required.
In a letter to the senior divisional commercial manager of Eastern Railway, the KMC has asked for details of the billboard that is the time of putting it up and the extent of the hoarding. KMC officials have also written to the public relations officer of the nationalised bank in this regard.
Senior civic officials said for quite some time it has been observed that not only railways even the city police puts up hoardings without the KMC's nod. The billboards put up on kiosks of police by various agencies are illegal as the Kolkata Police has not taken any permission from the KMC, one of the officials said.
The KMC has also proposed to fix a cut-off time by which the advertisement agencies would have to pay fees to the KMC. As there is no cut-off date, the advertisement agencies make only a part payment and continue their business.
The KMC has warned that failure to pay within the stipulated period would result in removal of the billboards.
It may be recalled that the municipal commissioner, Mr Khalil Ahmed, had held a meeting with the representatives of various advertisement agencies asking them to clear their dues.
The billboards put up by various defaulting agencies were blackened. The total dues from these agencies would be around Rs 30 crore, the officials said.
