So far, 800 illegal hoardings with scaffolding have been removed since January this year, says an official.
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN
Councillors of the Greater Chennai Corporation, including the Deputy Mayor, have sought details of court cases pertaining to illegal hoardings and related issues across the city. “No more pending court cases pertaining to illegal hoardings within the civic body’s limits,” says a senior official in the Revenue and Finance Department of the GCC.
Deputy Mayor M. Magesh Kumar said, “The Corporation officials should share the locations of streets where hoardings and banners have been allowed by court orders with the chairpersons and members of the ward committees. In my ward [169], there are numerous advertisement hoardings on Anna Salai. When requested to remove them, the individuals responsible for these hoardings claimed that they have court orders permitting the installation of such hoardings in many locations.”
The Council agreed that this information must be passed on.
Responding to this, a senior official told The Hindu that there were no pending court cases pertaining to hoardings at present. “Licensing process will start soon, and all those eligible who apply can register to install hoardings and banners in the designated areas. Even those who had filed a case in court can apply for the licence,” the official added.
In May, the civic body began conducting an audit of the structural stability of scaffoldings that hold the hoardings, billboards, and banners in the city (at the zonal level). This was following the death of 14 persons after a 100-foot-tall illegal billboard collapsed in Mumbai.
“So far, 800 illegal hoardings with scaffolding have been removed since January this year, of which roughly 300 were removed in the last two months,” the official added.