Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Now, Corporation turns its focus on removing billboards

TIRUCHI: After the recent drive to remove advertisement hoardings across the city a few months back, corporation officials have turned their attention to smaller advertisement billboards.

According to Corporation sources, as many as 1,540 billboards put up on medians and electricity and telephone posts in the city were removed during the past couple of days. Illuminated billboards erected over medians built on some of the arterial roads, as part of the city beautification initiatives, were also removed during the drive.

Similarly, billboards on poles carrying cable lines used for the traffic monitoring cameras fixed by the police have also been removed. The presence of billboards had become a controversial issue at the Corporation Council recently with Jerome Arockiaraj of the Congress alleging that many of them were unauthorised.

The Corporation, he contended, had been losing revenue as the rates fixed for the advertisement was very meagre. With removal of the hoardings, advertisers are looking for such vantage points and they could generate much revenue, he had argued.

The illuminated billboards on the newly constructed medians in places such as Bharathidasan Road were installed only last month with the approval of the Corporation. The Corporation was building more such medians across a few other arterial roads in the city, including the Puthur High Road.

Sources indicated that the removal of the billboards was ordered under instructions from officials in Chennai. The removed bill boards have been kept under safe custody, until further directions.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu