Hoardings with birthday wishes, obituaries, greetings and those advertising social and religious programmes are also banned, Shivakumar said.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Starting August 15, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will slap a penalty of Rs 50,000 on every unauthorised hoarding erected in the city.
Following the Karnataka High Court order, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the state government will fully back the civic body to ensure offenders pay, even if it is his or the Chief Minister’s supporters.
“We will enforce the ban strictly,” the Deputy Chief Minister affirmed to reporters on Tuesday. “All types of hoardings, including those put up by political leaders or any other individuals, will be removed in the next two to three days. Whoever violates the order, the BBMP will slap a penalty of Rs 50,000 for each offence, starting August 15.”
The decision, he said, was made after taking into confidence the ministers and MLAs. “No political party will be allowed to put up hoardings legally. There will be no excuse. I appeal to all political parties (to follow the order),” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
Hoardings with birthday wishes, obituaries, greetings and those advertising social and religious programmes are also banned, Shivakumar said.
Although the BBMP had banned all types of hoardings in 2018, the civic body struggled to implement the rule due to lack of political will.
During a recent hearing, the high court had taken the officials to task for going soft on the offenders. The court had also expressed shock that the civic body did not fine those who had illegally erected hoardings.
In the last four months, the BBMP has removed 59,413 illegal hoardings at its own cost. On the contrary, the civic body has filed First Information Reports (FIRs) only against 40 offenders even though it received close to 134 complaints.
Shivakumar said the state government is working on a policy to allow the display of hoardings legally.
“We will draw up a policy earmarking certain places in the city for displaying hoardings legally. It is inevitable. The area and size of these hoardings will also be determined. Till then, the BBMP will file FIRs against all those who put up buntings or flexes,” he said.