Hoardings: Corporation to seek legal opinion
The corporation has identified 17 locations within the city for exhibiting hoardings
KOCHI: The corporation will seek legal opinion on taking action against unauthorised hoardings erected on buildings. During the council meeting on Tuesday, opposition councillors and development standing committee chairman T.J. Vinod called for penalizing building owners for erecting illegal billboards while the Town Planning Officer questioned its legal validity.
Replying to the debate Mayor Tony Chammany said a final decision on this would be taken after seeking legal opinion. Meanwhile, the civic body will also consider serving notices to building owners for putting up illegal billboards.
“The buildings where unauthorised display boards are found, should be treated as illegal constructions and a heavy fine should be imposed on them”, said CPM councillor and opposition leader in the council, K.J. Jacob.
“The corporation has identified 17 locations within the city for exhibiting hoardings. However, contractors with licence have been illegally erecting display boards in other places”, the mayor said.
According to him, compared to other cities, Kochi is the most visually polluted place as it’s flooded with illegal hoardings.
Meanwhile, town planning committee chairman K.J.Sohan observed that the civic body would be able to rein in the illegal advertisers if the law was strictly enforced.
“Steps should be taken to install Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system to track flex boards and hoardings,” he said.
Replying to the debate on the pitiable condition of Fort Kochi beach and the nearby tourist spots, the mayor said a meeting would be convened with the District Collector to discuss ways to beautify the area.
Regarding the development of 24 city roads announced by Kochi Metro Rail Limited, Chammany said slight changes would be made in the list of roads submitted by KMRL.