JOIN USIt’s never a pleasant sight to see the lines of ugly, semi-torn fliers and promotional material stuck on walls and pillars around the City. These include pot-bellied politicians, classifieds, unauthorised advertisements and notices of different sorts.
Metrolife speaks to commuters in the City, who are forced to see these fliers everyday, as well as the concerned authorities on their plan of action. Most people think that the fliers deface the public property of the City and rid it of its charm. “The fliers are just an eyesore, especially when stuck on trees. In a City with a severe dearth of bins, they just add to the junk in the City,” expresses Jaideep Khare, a resident of Koramangala.
Another problem lies in the fact that many of these fliers are posted at night, when nobody can see the defaulters. “I don’t understand how no one intervenes. There must be permissions involved, which I’m sure nobody bothers taking. You can’t keep going around sticking papers with useless information for your own personal motives,” shares an angry Vinayaka N, who has lived in Bangalore all his life. He adds, “The worst is during election campaigns — it’s like the City turns from beautiful to ugly overnight.”
Ashmita Shetty, a professional, raises another valid point. “I hate the fliers but
I love the graffiti and other artwork on the walls, which I’ve seen in Vijaynagar, Malleswaram, Whitefield and other areas. People think twice before urinating on those walls,” she says.
Authorities claim that fines will soon be levied on those who put up these illegal fliers. “For the last few days, there have been task forces assigned to go around the City and remove these illegal posters, fliers and banners. At the same time, we are also booking cases under the Public Disfigurement Act, which will charge a small amount as penalty to the defaulters,” notes Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) joint commissioner (health) Y M Ramachandra Murthy, who is in-charge of the advertisement department.
‘The Ugly Indian’, a civic group that has been trying to ‘spot-fix’ Bangalore’s one dirty street at a time, has addressed the issue of fliers before. Even the BBMP’s beautification drive continues. However, all efforts are rendered pointless given how frequently these fliers manage to find new walls to stick to.
Though the authorities claim to be doing their part to remedy the situation, it looks like it’ll be a while before the effects of this clean-up drive actually start surfacing.