Seven ‘new’ billboards installed despite SC orders

Supreme Court ordered removal of hoardings and billboards across city by June 30

KARACHI: Seven new billboards have been put up right under the Jauhar Morr flyover on Rashid Minhas Road advertising Ramazan shows, despite the Supreme Court's (SC) order to remove all the billboards across the city by June 30.

The billboards have cluttered the space under the flyover, just before the U-turn in such a way that it could cause a road accident.



A traffic police constable, Muhammad Muneer standing at Jauhar Morr said that these billboards were installed a day before Ramazan. "Before these billboards, we used to sit under the flyover when the traffic flow was thin," he pointed out, adding that now the space has been occupied by the billboards. The SC had maintained, earlier in the month of May , that there was no law that permits installing outdoor advertising billboards and signboards on 'public property' and ordered the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), the Defence Housing Authority and all the cantonment boards to remove these billboards/hoardings across the city by June 30.

What is public property?

The judges had also explained in detail as to what type of place will come under the definition of 'public property'. The SC observed that the term 'public property' has broad meaning and, therefore, the judges clarified it in order to avoid any ambiguity.

The term 'public property' shall include the following places: roads, sidewalks, islands in the centre of a road or service lane, overhead bridges and underpasses, overhead pedestrian walkways or bridges, roundabouts, green belts or dividers between a road, pedestrian lanes and nullahs (storm water drains) and the banks of nullahs.

Holding accountable

After the devolution of basic health, education and local taxes department from the KMC to the six district municipal corporations (DMCs) in the city, the billboards had become the subject of the latter.

However, municipal commissioner of the DMC East, Waseem Mustafa Somroo confirmed to The Express Tribune that the new billboards installed under the Jauhar Mor flyover were by the Cantonment Board Faisal (CBF).



He said that the Jauhar Morr flyover fell under the jurisdiction of the CBF and they have installed those billboards, which were a serious violation of the law. "Those billboards have been put up right before the U-turn," he pointed out adding that could cause a fatal road accident at any time.

For his part, he said that they have removed around 70 billboards, so far, from District East. There are around 23 billboards of the District East on Sharae Faisal, which he said would be removed by June 30.

Meanwhile, CBF's hoarding in-charge Muhammad Qasim said that the billboards under the Jauhar Morr flyover are not new.

"These billboards were put up a long time back," he said adding that up till now they haven't removed any billboard from the CBF's jurisdiction. "We will remove billboards after June 30," he assured.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2016.