With the Assembly elections barely two months away, sitting and aspiring MLAs have put up illegal flex boards and banners on almost all roads and footpaths in the city.
Some of them are so big that they endanger the lives of vehicle users and pedestrians.
The BBMP has been accused of disregarding the high court’s ban on flex boards. In the eyes of the public, the BBMP is too timid to act against political leaders.
On Tuesday, the civic body vowed to change this. It has warned to prosecute firms and individuals who put up these flexes by invoking the Karnataka (Prevention of Defacement of Open Spaces) Act.
The law provides for up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of Rs 1,000 on agencies or people who put up banners illegally.
A senior BBMP official said that while they had so far focused on removing these illegal flexes, they would soon start filing police complaints against violators in large numbers.
“We have registered 53 FIRs in the last last two-and-a-half months.”
Resident groups have suggested that the civic body designate a place where advertisement boards can be safely put up.