Trees as ad space no free enterprise any more

Damaging trees for placing publicity boards to attract charges, fine

Call it the Palike’s new-found love for the City’s trees or the discovery of a revenue resource to fill its scarce coffers. 

Advertisers using trees as publicity spaces for products or services may soon find out that it is no free enterprise. BBMP officials have decided to penalise those placing advertisement boards by means of nails, wires, threads, etc, on the trees. This is because doing so is a violation of the Tree Act.

There is no law which prohibits such acts, but it also does not mean permission has been given for them. 

Offenders will not only have to pay for using public spaces for advertising without permission, but also have to pay for vandalising public property. BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana says that trees are public properties that belong to BBMP, BDA or Forest department. They cannot be used freely for commercial activities.

 Trees which bear advertisements will be identified and the advertisers will have to pay the charges and fine for manhandling them, he said. Since no permission has been given, the offenders will have to pay penalty. The matter will soon be discussed with the BBMP forest cell and orders will be issued. Since the BBMP tree officers have no count of how many trees have turned into advertising spaces, they will start assessing all trees. 

They will also ascertain how many trees in this category fall under BBMP, BDA and Forest department. 

Environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy says causing injury to trees by driving nails into them or tying wires or threads around them is a violation of the Tree Act. Doing so, affects the growth of trees. Also, trees die a slow death as fungi enter the centre of the wood and makes it rot. Thus, the trees become week and fall off during strong wind or under pressure. The BBMP has the power to book people directly under the Tree Act, but till date, nothing has been done.

A senior BBMP tree officer said, “The rules are not very clear about the provisions in the Tree Act. It neither prohibits nor permits anybody to use them for advertising. But that does not mean that it can be allowed. We also do not have direct powers to book people for using trees as free advertising spaces.

So, we are thinking of penalising people in two ways.” Reddy said that when P R Ramesh was the Mayor, he along with other experts had submitted a report to the BBMP, pointing out this problem. But till date, the report has never been opened. 

“No action has been taken, despite the fact that we were told by BBMP officials to prepare the report,” he added.