Illegal hoardings being legitimised, claims activist

Another scam has surfaced in the advertisement section of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) where attempts have been made to 'legitimise' illegal hoardings.

Sai Datta, a social activist who has filed a petition in the High Court against the illegal hoardings, said that instead of blacklisting the agencies which have put up illegal hoardings, the Palike had been protecting them.

“Fake records are being created to show that hoardings came up only recently whereas they are there for the last many years. This forgery will legitimise the advertisement agencies and their display boards, which had put up hoardings illegally in the last seven-eight years,” he said.

He added that illegal hoardings had been removed in some parts of the City without noting down their dimension and the number of years for which they were put up unlawfully. This will lead to a huge revenue loss the BBMP in the form of advertisement tax and penalty besides letting the culprits go scot-free, said Sai Datta.

He said that no scientific survey had been conducted to assess the revenue loss due to illegal hoardings.

“Had the officials in all the eight zones maintained a proper record of all the hoardings, the revenue every year from advertisement would have been somewhere about Rs 300 crore,” said Saidatta.