Commercial hoardings will not be allowed in Bengaluru, says govt

Commercial hoardings will not make a comeback in Bengaluru after the state government made up its mind to tell the High Court that it has withdrawn a rule that was rushed through last year.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Advertisement Rules 2021 — which was passed hurriedly on the day BS Yediyurappa resigned as chief minister and made provision for hoardings — has been withdrawn.

The Urban Development department had written to the Advocate General of Karnataka earlier this month on the government's stand of not allowing hoardings that previously disfigured public spaces and led to a historic ban.

The Advocate General is expected to inform this during the hearing scheduled this week in the court, which has been hearing a petition questioning the legality of the advertisement rules that made provisions to display the now-banned hoardings.

The petitioner had argued that the rules were contrary to various directions passed by the High Court on hoardings.

In the letter, seen by DH, the UDD refers to the August 2021 meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and attended by ministers and MLAs, where it was decided not to allow hoardings as it is an eyesore and goes against the BJP's election manifesto.

Bommai had also withdrawn the notification issued on July 26, 2021, that lifted the historic ban on hoardings, which has been in place since August 2018.

Political flexes While the UDD’s letter clarifies the government’s stand on hoardings, there has been an utter failure on the government's part to crack down on the use of flexes or posters that are being used by legislators with impunity.

Some of these posters, which are a danger to motorists, are often seen in constituencies such as RR Nagar, Yeshwanthpur, Govindarajanagar and KR Puram etc. The BBMP, which had promised to raid the places where such hoardings are manufactured, has not fined a single person so far.

As the removal of political flexes is fraught with risk, BBMP officials have decided to remove them on a daily basis without slapping any penalty.

“The joint commissioners and the chief engineers have been given the direction to remove flexes on a daily basis. The cost of removing the hoardings will be recovered from the violators,” BBMP Special Commissioner (Revenue) Deepak had told reporters.

“As per the Rules, the violations can be imprisoned for a period of six months.”