The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has removed temporary puja advertising structures, banners and hoardings from about 80 locations across the city after finding that several installations had not followed the prescribed rules. The civic body’s advertising department has been conducting the drive for the past five days and plans to resume the operation on Monday after a weekend pause.
The action has targeted bamboo structures and advertisements that covered public bus shelters, permanent government and private hoardings, traffic signal posts and traffic direction boards. Temporary structures erected on road dividers and median strips to display puja banners are also being dismantled.
According to officials from the civic body’s advertising department, the corporation had issued no-objection certificates this year to several puja committees and advertising agencies for temporary festival advertising. However, advertisements were installed at a number of locations without complying with the applicable rules, prompting the enforcement drive.
The corporation has taken action at about 70 locations where temporary advertisements covered government passenger shelters, traffic signals or traffic direction boards. A further 10 locations were identified where puja advertisements had been installed on road median strips. The civic administration has said that keeping median strips as clear as possible is one of the objectives of the operation.
The locations mentioned in the drive include Shyambazar, Sealdah, Ultadanga and parts of Central Avenue in north Kolkata, as well as Rashbehari, Tollygunge and Jadavpur in the south. At sites where government bus shelters had been covered by bamboo frames and banners, the structures have been dismantled and the advertisements removed.
The removal of advertisements from traffic signals and direction boards affects facilities used by commuters and motorists to navigate the city. The civic action also concerns bus shelters and median spaces, where temporary structures can reduce visibility and occupy public infrastructure intended for passenger movement, traffic management or road separation.
The corporation has said that the drive will continue, as far as possible, until before Panchami or Shashthi. Other temporary advertisements found to have been installed without following the rules will also be removed during the campaign.
A civic official said complaints about such installations are raised every year, but that stronger action had not previously been taken because of the pressures associated with puja celebrations and political considerations. The official said the present removals were intended to send a message and expressed hope that puja committees and advertising agencies would follow all restrictions when installing temporary festival advertisements next year.
