The recent measures by the Revenue Department to remove unauthorised hoardings and banners along national and State highways in the city have made little impact as new ones are being erected almost every night. Many of these hoardings obstruct road visibility and indirectly contribute to the increasing number of road accidents.
Revenue Department officials say while they immediately act against the unauthorised erection of publicity materials, the police and motor vehicles departments are largely ignoring the issue. Many of the accident-prone stretches of the Kozhikode bypass are now flooded with mammoth multi-colour bill boards that steal the attention of drivers.
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Revenue Department officials say they have limitations to remove the bill boards and hoardings erected by advertisers in private properties. They claim that majority of the large-size advertisement boards along the road are located in such private properties and that they are unable to act.
On the other hand, they also make it clear that the illegally installed boards in public places will be removed without any delay. The expenses for removing such hoardings will be collected from the advertiser as usual, they add.
The police say the owners of the private land, where the hoardings are fixed, get a remuneration and that they are finding it tough to stop the practice.
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“What we can do now is to check the distance they maintain from the road and the papers related to the consent they secured from the local bodies concerned,” they add.
Balussery road
“Other than the national highways, several recently renovated city roads too are dotted with small and large bill boards. The Eranhipalam-Balussery road is the best example where the poor road visibility is a huge issue now,” says P. Jayachandran, leader of a residents’ association in the area. He points out that the vehicles coming from the Eranhipalam side are not clearly seen with the ever increasing bill boards on either side of the road.