Bengaluru: Protest against ban on commercial hoardings

The members of Outdoor Advertising Association staged a protest against the civic body’s draft ‘Outdoor Signage and Public Messaging bylaws’ - 2018 at the Town Hall on Thursday.

With almost 300 people participating in the protest, they threatened to go on a strike if the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) does not lift the ban.

“The civic body has not considered about the employment of more than 1 lakh people from this industry. We are all for the ban on plastic materials. But why are they imposing a ban on what has been
legal for all these years?” asked A C Chikkanna, President, Karnataka Dalita Industrialist Federation.

He said the sudden implementation of the bylaws will lead to the suffering of those who are dependent on the industry. “Officials should have consulted the stakeholders before drafting this,” he added.

S M Jawad, President of the Advertising Association, said BBMP officials have copied all the rules from foreign countries.

BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said they have received several objections from the people and it will be placed before the state government. “The government will decide the further steps,” he said.

The civic body drafted the new bylaws in August and invited objections and suggestions from the public. According to Prasad, a total of 737 objections and suggestions have been received by the BBMP.

‘Impose fine for tree chopping’

Srinivas Alavilli, a social activist from Citizens for Bengaluru, suggested the civic body to lay a fine of Rs 5 lakh on those who cut trees and branches for better visibility of the hoardings. He also asked them to look into the livelihood of the individuals involved in the advertising agencies.

“The BBMP should call for a consultation with the workers who are currently engaged in advertising and take their inputs into consideration while drafting the new policy,” he mentioned.