The Deccan Chronicle 01.12.2010
No ads in ‘A’ zone: Are officials listening?Nov. 30: BBMP authorities have violated advertisement bylaws by allowing advertisements in the ‘A’ zone, which is a no-advertisement zone, opposition leader in the BBMP council M. Nagaraj said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference, he said advertisement hoardings have been banned in areas surrounding the Vidhana Soudha, Vikas Soudha and Chalukya Circle, and BBMP authorities are making a mockery of the advertisement bylaw by allowing advertisements in this ‘A’ zone.
The advertising agency Vantage has been allowed to display advertisements near Sophia school, which falls in the ‘A’ zone. It has gone a step further and put up advertisement hoardings on the under-construction skywalk too.
Mr Nagaraj claimed the skywalk is unauthorised. Originally, it was permitted in Jayanaggar, but has been constructed near Chalukya Circle, which is a violation. Moreover, the company is yet to obtain a stability certificate from the Indian Institute of Science and a completion certificate from BBMP, Mr Nagaraj said.
He alleged that in order to favour some parties, BBMP has given a go-by to public auctioning and permitted Vantage to construct the skywalk on a build-operate-transfer basis.
“The skywalk might help school children, but the unathorised construction imposes a revenue loss of Rs 35 crore on BBMP for a leased period of 30 years. The company will be paying Rs 1.2 lakh to BBMP whereas the annual licence fee from other companies ranges between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 62.76 lakh,” Mr Nagaraj said.
