Bhubaneswar: Advent of monsoon has prompted Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to launch an intensive drive to remove illegal and structurally unsafe hoardings from the cityscape, as they could prove harmful to commuters during heavy rain and wind.Of 320 such identified hoardings, around 100 have been removed. The identified illegal hoardings are those, which no advertisers have staked claim to. The legal ones have structural safety certificates, BMC officials said.BMC deputy commissioner Ajay Mohanty said BMC had given an ultimatum to private advertisers to remove around 800 hoardings in Dec last year, thus threatening to withdraw empanelment for not renewing the contract after a lapse of three years. “We are removing unclaimed and illegal hoardings as after the ultimatum, around 500 hoardings were claimed, while the rest were declared illegal. Empanelment of advertisement agencies with BMC had expired on Dec 12 last year,” Mohanty said.He said most of such illegal hoardings are found erected on private plots. The ones set up on govt land for which BMC charges advertisement licence fee, are not illegal. “We found that the illegal hoardings were installed erratically posing danger to people. They are potentially more dangerous in monsoon,” Mohanty added.In Feb, the exposed iron structure of a hoarding collapsed on two persons, killing them instantly. Reacting swiftly to the hoarding menace, BMC then identified several dangerously installed hoardings.BMC sources said winds of more than 60 kmph in speed are potentially enough to blow away lightweight posters, banners, hoardings, and kiosks, and cause injury to people besides obstructing roads and drains. The exercise would also help reduce the load of restoration work post-cyclone, officials said.A BMC officer said since the govt aims at ensuring zero casualties and minimum loss to both govt and private properties during monsoon or any natural calamities, necessary steps are being taken.“It is not humanly possible for private advertisers and enforcement squads to remove all boards. But the big ones on rooftops and the ones in sensitive locations would be removed, irrespective of whether they are legal or illegal. Illegal ones would be permanently removed, while legal ones would be allowed to be re-installed,” the officer added.
