The Times of India 12.12.2013
Ranchi Municipal Corporation's drive against wall advertisements, posters
RANCHI: A drive will be started by the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) within a day or two against illegal painting of advertisements or putting up of posters and banners on walls without seeking its permission. They will remove such advertisements and also fine people who are involved.
Almost every wall in buildings near major arteries of the city, including Circular Road, Kutchehry Road, Purulia Road and Ratu Road has been defaced with advertisements of hostels, doctors, coaching centres and even political parties. Film posters are ubiquitous as well. However, almost all these advertisements have been put up illegally without the permission of the RMC.
Deputy chief executive officer of the RMC, S K Lal said that according to the Municipal Act, 2011, the corporation's permission should be taken before putting up any type of advertisement in the city. "If the advertisements are put up without permission then there is a provision of fining the offenders. The fine amount ranges from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Putting up advertisements without permission is not just a crime under the municipal act but also under the Defacement of Property Act. Under the latter, a person cannot put up advertisements even on the walls of his own house without permission from the RMC," he said.
The cost for putting up an advertisement is Rs 40 per square foot. Thus, if an advertisement is installed in an area measuring 500 square feet, like those near Kutchehry road, the revenue collected from one advertisement will be a minimum of Rs 20,000. Putting up of advertisements without the municipal corporation's permission is leading to a revenue loss of lakhs of rupees every month.
Lal said, "We keep organizing drives from time to time and removing illegal posters but it is not possible for us to monitor all violations as people who put up advertisements illegally operate late at night."
The corporation is also planning on outsourcing the monitoring work. "Our monitoring system is not very strong so we are unable to keep a tab all the time. We are planning to outsource the work of monitoring to some private company so that our burden is reduced and we can concentrate more on constructive plans. We will soon start discussing the outsourcing proposal in a board meeting of the RMC."
The advertisements and posters cause more than just revenue loss. They sometimes become a reason of embarrassment for some people.
Yogita Singh, a student of Ranchi Women's College said, "The walls near our college are defaced with film posters which have some really embarrassing content. We often face uncomfortable glances from boys and men when we pass the posters. We are also subjected to lewd comments."
