Despite drawing the ire of courts on multiple occasions, illegal advertisement boards, banners, hoardings and digital displays dot several arterial roads in the city, putting the lives of motorists and pedestrians at risk.
The Madras High Court banned illegal hoardings in 2006 and the Supreme Court upheld the same in 2008. But thanks to political parties, who seem to be outdoing each other in flouting the law, these eyesores are gradually becoming a permanent feature of the city’s landscape.
For the city’s residents — who were initially upset with the visual assault — it is gradually turning out to be a matter of life and death.
Says advocate V.S. Suresh, a resident of Kolathur: “Many have had narrow escapes as the boards, made of flimsy material, fall even if there is a slight wind. No official seems to be bothered about the installation of these display boards in public spaces. The police, on their part, register a case, but only after the accident has happened.”
Hoardings installed on the pavements also hinder free movements of pedestrians besides being a distraction to the motorists.
Suman Agarwal, a resident of Purasawakkam, said, “In my area, you can find more hoardings than signboards. Every corner of the road has glowing banners/hoardings. All these illegal hoardings divert the attention of people who walk on the roads and ride on two-wheelers. The authorities are not at all bothered.”
Social Activist Traffic K.R. Ramaswamy, who has been fighting against the menace for a long time now, says that several residents keep calling him about the illegal erection of boards. However, civic authorities and the police do not crack down on banners put up by political parties, he charges.
When contacted, a senior police officer said, “Political parties do not lodge any complaint themselves since all of them illegally erect such structures without permission. The public rarely come and complain to us. If anyone complains, we book cases under the Tamil Nadu Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act of 1959.”
Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of the Arappor Iyakkam, says if people lodge a complaint with the Chennai Corporation, the staff of the civic body should remove the hoarding with the help of the police. However, the civic authorities pass the buck saying that the police do not provide security. “The law and order police and the traffic police are always on the ground and they can easily object if somebody erects such illegal hoardings on the pavement or on the margins of the road. In most of times, the corporation staff and police do not come together.”
