Karnataka - Mysore   

Drive launched against illegal hoardings

By Our Staff Correspondent

Illegal hoardings being removed by the MCC personnel in Mysore on Monday.

MYSORE, DEC. 7. The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) has launched a drive to remove unauthorised commercial hoardings and restore the city's intrinsic beauty in keeping with its heritage status.

Visual pollution

Though a decision in this regard was taken some time ago, it was only on Tuesday that the authorities launched the drive, which is expected to reduce visual pollution.

While the focus is on commercial hoardings, public opinion is strongly in favour of freeing the compound walls of many public buildings of film posters, advertisements, and graffiti.

The worst case is on the road leading to the city bus stand and the junction near Lansedowne Building, where the walls are covered with film posters. Efforts to remove them have proven to be a waste, as posters and bills are pasted again.

The compound walls of Crawford Hall on the University of Mysore premises are also tarnished with graffiti by several trade and students' unions.

It is pertinent to note that MCC's current drive against illegal hoardings pertains to only those who have erected billboards without permission from the corporation.

Guidelines

It is clear that there is a proliferation of commercial hoardings that is effacing the beauty of the city.

This has been attributed to the guidelines or the lack of it that permit commercial hoardings to be displayed atop heritage buildings.

The Visvesvaraya Building in the heart of the city has been identified for the heritage tag but commercial hoardings on the top of the structure mar its beauty.

Vishwa Manava Double Road in Kuvempunagar had a splendid road divider with a lawn and shady trees that added to the sylvan ambience of the place.

But the MCC handed over the entire stretch of nearly two km to a private agency, which has erected over 80 billboards there.

Threat

Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) have pointed out that the beams erected to hoist the hoardings occupy a lot of space on the footpaths in many places.

They are also very low and pose a threat to pedestrians, who are caught unawares and bump into them at night. Major traffic junctions are also splattered with commercial hoardings that are a distraction.

Extend crackdown

There, however, is a strong body of opinion that the hoardings are indicators of the city's economic vibrancy and should not be curbed.

It has also called for a crackdown on the current practice of advertising products on the compound walls of many houses.

The corporation's decision to crack down on hoardings stems from the perception that it was incurring a huge loss, as the licence for many hoardings had lapsed.

Though the crackdown is on illegal hoardings, NGOs feel that it should be extended to legal hoardings that have been installed in an erratic manner all over the city.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

Drive launched against illegal hoardings
Industries' association wants road repaired
Science Park set up on RIE campus
Team conducts inquiry into doctor's conduct
Pressure on MCC to stop the drive?

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu