The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will soon start removing structures that are now devoid of advertisements and banners. The civic body is forming teams to oversee the process.
The BBMP had issued a public notice on August 14 asking the agencies concerned to remove the metal structures by August 30. It had stated that if they failed to do so, the civic body would remove the structures and recover the cost from the owners / occupants of the premises. However, there was little response to the announcement.
The BBMP shifted the deadline to September 6 and warned of legal action against agencies or firms. Officials said they would take the assistance of the jurisdictional police while carrying out the exercise.
A senior official, who spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, said that some agencies and firms had approached the High Court of Karnataka seeking a stay. The court, which is hearing a case on illegal flexes and hoardings in the city, has directed the BBMP to refrain from taking any coercive action against those firms that had paid the civic body the tax due along with penalty and interest.
“Of over 4,000 hoardings in the city, the BBMP will now take action to remove around 2,000 structures. Before the High Court began hearing the illegal hoardings case, the BBMP had removed around 880 hoardings,” the official stated and added that the commissioner had directed the engineering department to prepare a plan of action for removal of the structures.
The official also said that teams have been formed at the zonal level to ensure that these structures are removed in a quick and safe manner. Tenders had been floated at the zonal level.
