Peel off ugly skin: Major billboard clean-up drive starts today

Korangi Road, Sharae Faisal deadliest roads in terms of traffic accidents: NED study.

KARACHI:

In a city that is plastered with billboards, it may be hard to believe that its residents are not big fans of massive outdoor advertising. But anyone who remembers the giant structures taking down several people during a rainstorm will testify to the residents’ dislikes.

Fortunately, the government officials have also taken notice of the massive billboards that dot the city, especially its main artery, Sharae Faisal. Today (Sunday), Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan will inaugurate a cleanliness drive along with commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui to implement the rules on placing signboards on main roads.

The rules will be based on the data collected by NED University and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre’s Road Traffic Injury and Prevention Centre. According to NED University urban infrastructure department’s Prof Mir Shabbar Ali, Sharae Faisal is the most vulnerable street in terms of fatal road injuries.

“The signboards, which are irregularly installed near traffic signals and other dangerous locations on the street, distract the commuters and result in fatal injuries,” he said. “The highest number of injuries with over 400 trauma cases has been reported from Sharae Faisal and Korangi Road.”

Of all the road accidents that take place on Sharae Faisal, nearly six per cent are fatal. Ali suggested building several more pedestrian bridges.

Siddiqui told The Express Tribune that they will target illegally installed signboards in this campaign and make sure the road is safe for commuters.

However, the former administrator of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), Muhammad Hussain Syed, claimed the department is not following the rules and regulations on fixing billboards. According to the city government laws, any kind of advertisement board can be fixed as long as it does not pose any danger by its shape, lighting or dimensions to the upper-floor residents or offices.

Jurisdiction

Winding through the city all the way from Metropole Hotel to the airport, Sharae Faisal does not entirely fall under the jurisdiction of the KMC. In fact, major parts of it fall under Cantonment Board Faisal and Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC). The commissioner assured, however, that these departments are also on board in the cleanliness drive. “During the campaign, we will clean all kinds of ugliness, including illegal installations of the signboards,” he promised.

The placement of billboards has, however, been a bone of contention between the three departments.  Before the jurisdictions were marked out, CBC vice-president Aziz Suharwardy said, the three departments were in conflict every time a billboard was placed. “However, the issue has been resolved and we have located the boundaries and ensured that no one violates the law,” he told The Express Tribune. “Confrontations over the placement of billboards is a story of the past.”

Suharwardy did not give a lot of credit to the cleanliness drive starting today. It is merely a publicity campaign, similar to the sweeping of II Chundrigar earlier, he said.

Springing into action

A day ahead of the drive, KMC administrator Rauf Akhtar Farooqui directed the senior local taxes (advertisement) director to take action against all firms who had installed their boards in violation of the prescribed rules. The local taxes department must conduct a survey without any delay and compile a report on the installation of these advertising boards, he said, warning that action will be taken against those found violating the guidelines.

Improper and inappropriate hoardings are not only dangerous but also put an adverse affect on the visitors to Karachi, he said. He gave the firms three days to bring their billboards in line with the city government laws.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2014.