Road hoardings, billboards to be pulled down in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All illegal hoardings, billboards and display boards affecting the visibility of drivers on the national, state highways and other important roads will be pulled down in a time-bound manner across the state.

A high-level meeting of the State Executive Committee of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority presided over by the Chief Secretary on Tuesday decided to invoke the provisions of Disaster Management Act to remove the hoardings and bill boards which could result in potential disaster on the roads.

According to a state-wide assessment carried out by the authorities, the majority of the hoardings along the national and state highways have been installed in an unauthorised manner.

Though advertisement hoardings have been put up with the permission of local bodies, including panchayats, municipalities and corporations, in many cases the authorisation was given more than a decade ago. During this period,  there have been very few attempts for a scientific review of the growth in traffic and the dangers posed to drivers by such hoardings.

Experts say the mushrooming of hoardings on the highways is one of the major reasons for the road accidents and fatalities in the state. As part of Road Safety Week, the district authorities did remove hoardings and billboards recently. But such exercises have become mere rituals.

Experts say invoking the disaster management Act for removing hoardings is going to be a tough call. The state has eight national highways which run for about 1457 km.

As of now,  the authorities plan to focus on national highways, including Walayar – Kalyikavila stretch (620 km),   NH 17 (421 km),  which is also the longest highway stretch in the state connecting the entire Malabar coastal stretch from Kasargod to Edapally, Bodimettu – Kundanoor stretch of 183 km and Kollam-Kumily road.

Besides, the meeting also directed collectors and the road safety authority to mark the illegal hoardings along the 77 state highways  which account for a total of 4341 km.

Though the state government had brought in a law to ban flex boards and hoardings in October 2014,  after the initial enthusiasm it died a natural death. But this time,  the officials say they mean business.