Shopkeepers on The Mall have reacted angrily to city government notices instructing them to remove sign boards from their facades and get new ones made and approved by local authorities.
The shopkeepers said they were not consulted about the plans to introduce new guidelines for shop boards and advertising boards, and that the instructions are meaningless in the absence of those new guidelines. Some said their shops would lose their identities
The city government served notices on all shops on The Mall some 10 days ago to remove signs and advertisement boards and get them reinstalled after approval. Data Gunj Baksh Town officials later visited the shops to follow up on the notices.
Some of the officials told The Express Tribune that the shopkeepers were very unhappy about the notices, particularly when they had been unable to tell them what the new guidelines were. “They maintained that they did not accept the notices and would resist any attempt to force them to obey,” said the officials.
The shopkeepers, they said, had demanded that the city government pay for the initiative, as when Laskhmi Road, Naba Road, Bhatti Gate and Islampura had been developed in the Lahore Area Development project under former district coordination officer (DCO) Ahad Khan Chema.
“The shopkeepers were not appreciative of the notices, but they have to follow government bylawys. These measures are meant to beautify the city,” said Data Gunj Bakhsh Towm Municipal Officer Arif Butt.
The move to make uniform shop sign boards and advertising boards for shops on The Mall is part of the ‘Dilkash Lahore Project’, under which the city government is also restoring the facades of some historical buildings and renaming streets and squares after historic personalities.
Vice Chairman of Dilskash Lahore Dr Ajaz Anwar said that large billboards and shop signs that covered a building were a public nuisance.
Such boards also blocked the flat/shop owners/tenants view. He said that the shops signs should be in some harmony given the historical importance of the road.
He said that billboards displaying female models were also a public nuisance and unethical.
“All these boards should be brought under some checks,” he said.
Executive District Officer (Municipal Services) Masud Tamanna said that no design for new shop signs and advertising boards for The Mall had been decided yet.
He said that they had a basic idea of what should be allowed on The Mall. Large billboards would not be allowed, but they would not be banned. He said it would be up to the DCO as to what would be allowed and what would not be allowed. He said that shopkeepers would have to get approval from the city government before putting up any kind of board or shop sign. He said that the city government was given this authority under Section 141 of the Punjab Local Governments Ordinance.
Mall Road Association President Sohail Butt said that the shopkeepers did not accept the city government’s instructions.
“They should have consulted us before taking any such decisions, because we are the main stakeholders,” he said.
He said that the government taxed advertisement sign boards so it was getting money from the shopkeepers for the advertisements. He said that their businesses also depended on revenue from the advertising boards. “It is also a question of the shops’ identity.
We will not just agree to any order directly affecting our businesses. If we are forced to, we will protest and we will go to the courts.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2012.
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