Karachi administrator Clear(s) advertising from Clifton monuments in midnight raid
The boards were erected as part of a festival.
KARACHI:
Karachi Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed kept his word. On Thursday afternoon he said the billboards erected at two important monuments in Clifton would be pulled down. By1am on Friday, he was at the spot with a lone guard, personally supervising the dismantling operation.
“Take them off right away,” he shouted, standing at Teen Talwar (Three Swords) roundabout, as some men from an outdoor advertising company argued with him. “I want this and Do Talwar Roundabout cleared by 5am.”
He said no one had the authority to give the shampoo company permission to put up the billboards. “Only KMC can allow that. Placing billboards in front of monuments is illegal anyway.” The advertisement billboards were erected on the orders of a “higher office.” The multinational company was allowed to use the space after it sponsored the Hamara Karachi Festival, which is co-hosted by the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC). Hussain was the chief guest at its most recent event.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader and former deputy mayor Nasreen Jalil had said that she had asked KMC to allow the use of the roundabouts for advertisement. “But I didn’t know that it was against the bylaws,” she said. Jalil heads the festival.
Billboard jungle
Thousands of billboards have sprouted up across the city in recent years, along major roads, residential localities and in front of apartments.
KMC often blames outdoor advertisers for putting the billboards up in a haphazard way. But architects say nothing is possible without official patronage. An architect who has long championed saving Karachi’s heritage, Yasmeen Lari, said that billboards should not be allowed to be erected within the city. “They have changed Karachi’s face. The violation of the bylaws is rampant. Anyone can put up a billboard anywhere.”
It was wrong for the authorities to commercialise the two roundabouts, she said. “But, who cares about Karachi.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2012.
Karachi Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed kept his word. On Thursday afternoon he said the billboards erected at two important monuments in Clifton would be pulled down. By1am on Friday, he was at the spot with a lone guard, personally supervising the dismantling operation.
“Take them off right away,” he shouted, standing at Teen Talwar (Three Swords) roundabout, as some men from an outdoor advertising company argued with him. “I want this and Do Talwar Roundabout cleared by 5am.”
He said no one had the authority to give the shampoo company permission to put up the billboards. “Only KMC can allow that. Placing billboards in front of monuments is illegal anyway.” The advertisement billboards were erected on the orders of a “higher office.” The multinational company was allowed to use the space after it sponsored the Hamara Karachi Festival, which is co-hosted by the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC). Hussain was the chief guest at its most recent event.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader and former deputy mayor Nasreen Jalil had said that she had asked KMC to allow the use of the roundabouts for advertisement. “But I didn’t know that it was against the bylaws,” she said. Jalil heads the festival.
Billboard jungle
Thousands of billboards have sprouted up across the city in recent years, along major roads, residential localities and in front of apartments.
KMC often blames outdoor advertisers for putting the billboards up in a haphazard way. But architects say nothing is possible without official patronage. An architect who has long championed saving Karachi’s heritage, Yasmeen Lari, said that billboards should not be allowed to be erected within the city. “They have changed Karachi’s face. The violation of the bylaws is rampant. Anyone can put up a billboard anywhere.”
It was wrong for the authorities to commercialise the two roundabouts, she said. “But, who cares about Karachi.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2012.