Illegal, including torn out hoardings along the busy areas of the city are posing a threat to commuters besides, creating traffic snarl in the Capital City. After identifying as many as 128 dangerous hoardings within the Municipal Corporation’s jurisdiction, only 30 such billboards have been removed by the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) in the recent time.
Municipal Commissioner, Shaantanu Kumar Agrahari had issued an instruction to the officials for removing all such hoardings creating risk at busy sites a few days back.
According to Additional Municipal Commissioner, Divyanshu Kumar Jha, 45 unsafe hoardings have been identified and will be removed soon.
After a recent meeting with District Transportation Officer (DTO) and DSPs (Traffic) on August 19, a team will be constituted to inspect and demarcate more illegal billboards in Capital City.
“The Civic Body is concerned about the removal of illegal hoardings. After receiving some discontentment from the advertisement agencies, the Municipal Corporation will first examine the placements such hoardings. The plan will be executed in a while.
Those hoardings that have no legal sanction will be removed immediately,” said Jha while assuring that the inspection team will be constituted within a week for resolving the issue owing to the abrupt erection of shafts with hoardings.
On the other hand, despite of stringent norms formulated in 2013 to check the issue of illegal hoardings in which it was decided that the advertising agencies will have to take permission from the Civic Body as well as the Traffic Cell before setting up hoardings at a particular place, still quite a number of unauthorised hoardings are decked out here in Capital City.
DSP (Traffic 1) Dilip Xalxo, expressing concern over the problem of illegal hoardings that creates snag in managing traffic during the rushed hours, said, “We have asked for the revised list from the Municipal Corporation.
During the meeting, it was also decided that a letter will be sent to the Road Division asking the officials to issue the guidelines for installation of hoardings.”
“Moreover, all the hoardings put up within a radius of 100 meters from major squares intersection will be also removed or else will be shifted to some other localities. The process may take some time,” the Traffic DSP further added.
According to RMC Officer (PR), Naresh Kumar Sinha, looking at the poor condition of hoarding poles especially at MG Road, Kutchery Chowk and New Market area in Ranchi that leads to major road mishaps, fresh new guidelines for removing hoardings will be out.