HDMC to crack down on illegal hoardings

HUBBALLI: With illegal hoardings mushrooming in the twin cities, the HDMC has decided to crack the whip against advertising agencies that flout norms. Mayor Shivu Hiremath instructed officials to take stock of hoardings in Hubballi and Dharwad and impose fine on illegal hoardings or vacate them at the earliest if the agencies don't pay up.
The issue of illegal hoardings dominated the special general body of the HDMC that was specially called to discuss mobilization of resources.
There was commotion in the council when accounts officials tabled the statistics of illegal hoardings in twin cities, claiming that there are only 545 hoardings in Hubballi-Dharwad of which 382 are authorized and the remaining are illegal. This irked the corporatars, according to whom there are over 30,000 hoardings in the twin cities.
Corporators cutting across party lines condemned the officials for downplaying the menace of illegal hoardings and their callousness in handling the issue. When revenue officer M B Sabarad expressed helplessness over political interference in controlling illegal hoardings, Congress corporators Deepak Chinchore, Ganesh Tagargunti, BJP corporators Ramappa Badiger, JD(S) corporator Rajanna Koravi insisted that they act as per law and take strict action against violators. Sabarad also said that despite HDMC's repeated drives to clear the twin cities of illegal hoardings, more and more such hoardings are raising their ugly heads.
Koravi drew the attention of the meeting towards the pathetic condition of medians, whose maintenance is assigned to advertising agencies for 12 years from 2006. He underlined that medians on Lamington Road, Gokul Road and Vidyanagar are an eyesore as their grills have been broken and they are surrounded by weeds. "Such medians are spoiling the image of the city," he added. When mayor Shivu Hiremath blamed advertising agencies for the ill-maintenance of medians, senior corporator Mahesh Burli suggested that the contract term agencies should be reduced to 2-3 years from the present 12 years.
Another corporator Ramappa Badiger stressed on the need to update information on the hoardings on HDMC's official website to avoid misuse of permits. The suggestion to vacate the dilapidated hoarding on HDMC's building near Chennamma Circle was accepted by the floor. Quoting the section from the KMC Act, commissioner Noor Mansoor said that advertisements cannot be displayed at all places in the city. "If the floor declares advertisement zones that will help HDMC to keep a tab on illegal hoardings, it will also be useful for advertisers to get good response from the public," he explained.
'From where will revenue come?'
Former mayor and BJP corporator Pandurang Patil took the mayor and officials to task for their decision to vacate hoardings erected on private properties, as this would lead to a loss in revenue to the HDMC.
Instead he suggested that they impose a fine on violators. "This is a meeting called to focus on resource mobilization. Instead, we are talking about ways to block income. How will vacating hoarding curb the menace?" he questioned.
Agreeing with him, Congress corporator Ganesh Tagargunti also suggested to impose fine on violators.
Patil also pointed out that many residential property owners don't show their commercial profit under the Self-Assessment System (SAS). "Has the HDMC issued any notice to such violators?," he asked.
In their reply, officials said that they will do it from now on.