Mysore core area to be free of flex, hoardings

Drive from February 1 against disfiguring public spaces

Mysore City Corporation (MCC) commissioner K S Raykar announced that as per a decision taken by the council, flex boards, hoardings, wall paintings and pasting cinema posters would be disallowed in the core area of the city.

The core area, which is named as Zone A for identification purposes, comprises the area beginning from Race Course passing through Law Courts, Hunsur Road, Hotel Metropole, Railway Station, Nazarbad Circle and ending at Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens.

He was speaking at a discussion organised by the MCC to formulate an advertisement policy at Rani Bahadur Auditorium here on Monday. Formulation of an advertisement policy comes in the backdrop of a requirement from JnNURM to release funds for projects.

Raykar said 495 hoardings have already been removed from Zone A. Hoarding provide a revenue of Rs 50-55 lakh to the corporation. While a section of the society demands total abolition of hoardings, it wouldn’t be viable as it could hurt the industry dependent on advertising. Unless and until advertisements are given, the city may not survive, he added.

However, advertisers would be alloted slots in areas earmarked as Zone B, C and D outside the core area. He warned that disfiguring public areas by pasting posters would be subject to prosecution.

Raykar clarified that property owners need to seek permission from the MCC for putting-up hoardings. Also, MCC has the right to collect revenue due to hoardings put-up on railway embankments and roads maintained by the public works department.

Earlier, a presentation was given on the types of hoarding that could be set-up in the city to enhance and retain the heritage value of the city.

Medical education and district-in-charge minister S A Ramdas reiterated the commissioner’s announcement at a media conference later in the day. He said a drive would be taken out from February 1 against flex boards.

Even professionals such as lawyers, doctors and shopkeepers would be given a specific colour combination and size, which they would have to use in front of their establishments.

Shastry, a resident of the city, opined that revenue generation should not be the major factor in deciding the locations of hoardings. He said the advertisement policy for Mysore can’t be compared to that of western cities.

Raghavendra Murthy, representing an advertising agency, said the MCC had been taking up drives on a regular basis to remove improper hoardings in the city.

However, he objected to the concept of using zone B for only displaying public interest messages.

He said that none of the advertisers would come forward to put-up a full hoarding for public interest and a small portion for showcasing their company names. He said as hoardings involve heavy investments. Providing meagre space would hurt revenue generation and also affect industries.

Poor ‘show’
The programme was scheduled to begin at 10 am. However, a section of the participants including senior citizens and theatre owners staged a walkout as the programme didn’t begin until 11.15 am. The cause was attributed to the late arrival of medical education and district-in-charge minister S A Ramdas.

After the commencement of a programme, a presentation of survey completed along with the aim of MCC was displayed on a screen. With the presentation being made in English, a few of the elected representatives found the slideshow to be really boring and were seen walking in and out of the auditorium.

While the slideshow was rarely visible to a majority of the participants, the presentation continued for a good two hours with scant regard to whether it was really helping the decision makers at the MCC.