Illegal banners, hoardings dot Zirakpur

Rajiv Bhatia

Zirakpur, April 4
Though it enjoys the privilege of being a neighbour to the City Beautiful, Zirakpur has not much to boast of. The defacement is taking a toll and the Zirakpur Municipal Council has failed to take any action against the defacement of public property by violators who have hung banners and hoardings at various parts of the city.

The problem has acquired an alarming proportion in the
town and one can easily spot banners in every nook and corner of the area.

The main violators are politicians, communication companies, religious organisations, educational institutions, private tuitions, boutiques, beauty saloons and event organisations.

Banners are also seen even for the functions to be held in Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Zirakpur MC official said in the absence of any strict laws to check the defacement of public property, the violators were defacing the town with hoardings and posters. He said no one had taken any permission for pasting posters and banners.

He added while conducting the drives, the council had faced problem of staff crunch. However, he said the council had issued notices to violators and collected the compounding fee.

A visit to several other areas, including Dhakoli, Zirakpur-Patiala Highway, Pabhat area, Baltana and Lohgarh shows that besides banners, the electricity poles and streetlights have been defaced with the posters. Not only private buildings, even high voltage electricity towers have not been spared by advertisers and politicians.

Residents seek local administration’s help to initiate action against the violators.

Mallika Khanna, a resident of Zirakpur, said the electricity poles and intersections were covered with the banners advertised by different educational institutes, giving an untidy look to it. He said the MC should take strict action against the violators.

“The entire town has been defaced with banners of politicians,” said Ram Niwas, a resident of Pabhat.

A sales executive of telecommunication on condition of anonymity said there was no need of permission from any official at Zirakpur to paste posters or any other promotional materials.

Zirakpur MC president Narinder Kumar Sharma claimed that the banners and posters would be removed by tomorrow. He said MC had plans to give the contract to private contractor for advertisement in the town. The tender for the contractor would be called shortly, he added.