Show me the money: Cash-strapped civic bodies offer billboards in violation to by-laws

Spaces around monuments and amenities are also up for grabs for advertisements.


Creative Essa Malik/saad Hasan December 29, 2012
According to the Sindh Outdoor Advertisers Association, there could be around 3,000 billboards in the city. DESIGN: ESSA MALIK

KARACHI:


When trees were chopped to renovate the footpaths along Gora Qabristan, grass, flowers and benches for tired pedestrians weren’t the only additions - a dozen advertisement boards, each one being rented out for Rs200,000 a month, also cropped up.


The civic agency responsible for the area, the Cantonment Board Karachi (CBK), has also allowed advertisements to be put up in the space in front of the army recruitment centre and other military compounds.

When questioned about the surge in outdoor advertising, a senior official from the CBK said, “How else do you expect us to pay for developments projects? The space was lying vacant and we made good use of it.” The official added that the cantonment needs revenue to maintain roads. “The money we get from this will be used for public welfare - such as the Rs20-million pedestrian bridge planned for Sharae Faisal.” Senior CBK engineer Farhat Nawaz refused, however, to comment on the matter.

A seniro CBK offiical

CBK is not the only civic body using outdoor advertisements to raise cash quickly. Thousands of billboards and sign boards have cropped up around the city in recent months, often in clear violations of the law. Nobody knows the exact number of billboards in Karachi, but according to the Sindh Outdoor Advertisers Association, there could be around 3,000.

According to the sindh

The association’s former chairperson, Mashood Merchant, said cantonment boards were responsible for the burst of advertisements that have morphed the city’s looks. “There is no provision in the law for a 100x30-feet-long billboard but CBK has allowed one near Kala Pul. Nobody can question them.”

In recent months, the Cantonment Board Clifton has also followed CBK’s lead. It routinely rents out Punjab Chowangi to companies for marketing their products.

“The road in front of The Forum shopping mall use to have no advertisements. Now there are billboards and electronic signboards,” said Merchant. “We can’t stop our members from using them since everyone wants more business.”

Flouting laws

Merchant said local and multinational companies should ensure that advertisements for their products appear only on billboards, which have been set up in conformity with the by-laws.

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has detailed by-laws for outdoor advertisements that are listed over 41 pages. But a cursory glance at them will show that they are not being followed. For instance, one rule is that there should be a distance of at least 200 feet between two billboards. But there are hundreds of sign boards along Rashid Minhas Road, Korangi Road and others that violate this provision.

Other rules include that no billboard should cross the border of the footpaths and protrude onto the roads, they should not distract drivers’ attention and must not occlude educational institutions and hospitals from view.

KMC has also started renting out spaces on the sides of the flyovers, underpasses and pedestrian bridges for advertisements. Spaces around monuments and amenities, such as Do Talwar and Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim, are also up for grabs. Akhter Sheikh, KMC’s director for local taxes, has the same explanation as the cantonment boards. “We have a target to meet. In this year’s budget, the finance department has asked us to collect around Rs1 billion.”

He added that around 1,130 small and large billboards have been put up within KMC’s jurisdiction. “All prime locations such as Sharae Faisal and Clifton have been taken away from us by the cantonment boards. They are the real culprits.” However, he refused to divulge the number of billboards auctioned on specific roads.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2012.

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