The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has issued new rules for advertisement hoardings put up by Durga Puja organisers, limiting their display period and capping their height at 22 feet from ground level.
Under the civic body’s standard operating procedures, hoardings may be installed only during a defined festival window: seven days before Mahalaya and seven days after Bijaya Dashami. The guidelines apply to advertisement hoardings associated with Durga Puja celebrations across the city.
The KMC has also warned that advertisements, temporary structures and bamboo scaffoldings found beyond the permitted period may attract fines and charges under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980. These penalties would be imposed in addition to the applicable regular advertisement fees, according to an official source cited by The Statesman.
The 22-foot limit will apply from ground level under all circumstances. The restriction places a fixed ceiling on the height of temporary advertising structures around puja venues, where hoardings and festival installations often share space with pedestrian movement, roads, utility infrastructure and nearby buildings.
Puja organisers seeking to install hoardings will have to submit a declaration or undertaking and obtain a no-objection certificate from the civic authorities. The requirement gives the municipal corporation a formal approval mechanism before such structures are put up and creates a documented basis for checking whether installations comply with the stated conditions.
The time limit also establishes a clear municipal enforcement window around the festival. Structures that remain after the permitted period could become subject to additional financial penalties, alongside regular advertising charges. The official statement did not specify the amount of the proposed fines or the process and timeline for removing non-compliant installations.
The new rules come as the civic authorities examine other aspects of managing the areas around Durga Puja pandals. According to sources cited in the report, the KMC is exploring guidelines on how far food stalls should be located from puja venues. No final distance requirement for food stalls has been announced so far.
Hoardings, temporary structures and food stalls are part of the wider public-space management challenge during Kolkata’s festival season. Their placement affects the use of roads, footpaths and open areas around pandals, while the civic body must also coordinate permissions, advertising fees and enforcement. The current guidelines specifically establish requirements for hoarding height, timing and approvals; further rules on food-stall locations remain under consideration.
The KMC’s next steps will involve processing declarations and no-objection certificates from puja organisers and enforcing the permitted display period. Any additional guidelines governing the distance of food stalls from pandals are expected to be announced separately by the civic authorities.
