Illegal billboards stand defiant in the face of bureaucratic rhetoric

They may fall off with a slightly strong wind but no bureaucrat is willing to remove them

KARACHI: On February 23, the city administration launched yet another cleanliness drive in Karachi. The results, however, are a mockery of the administration's resolve. The piles of debris lining almost every street and the ugly billboards that deface every major thoroughfare are a stark reminder of the futility of such bureaucratic rhetoric.

Many a time have the city administration's top officials risen to the cause of saving the city's face from the ugly billboards, only to rest quietly once the steam blows off. One wonders whether all the rhetoric is only to serve as music to the citizen's ears or if the owners of these often illegal billboards are really stronger than the bureaucracy.

Roland DeSouza, a member of Shehri - Citizens for a Better Environment, seems to have the answer. "A large proportion of the billboards installed across the city are in violation of the existing rules and regulations," he said. "The payment for such installations is pocketed by the very officials whose job it is to protect these spaces." DeSouza added that the structural stability of most of these installations was suspect, as they have not been designed by a certified engineer. "When they collapse in a cyclone, storm or earthquake, they end up blocking the passage of emergency vehicles."

According to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) authorities, the local taxes department removed over 550 illegal hoardings put up along various traffic corridors, in violation of advertisement by-laws. The officials, however, always shy away from divulging the exact number of such hoardings.

On several occasions, the Karachi administrator Saquib Soomro and local taxes director Akhtar Sheikh, deliberately diverted such questions, excusing themselves for an important meeting or asking to call at a later time.

"The haphazard signboards near traffic signals and along busy corridors distract commuters and are often the cause of fatal accidents," explained Prof Mir Shabbir Ali, the head of NED University's urban infrastructure department.

According to a former city administrator, who wished not to be named, the KMC has turned a blind eye towards this blight while its officials pocket lucrative sums. He estimated that the municipality earns an estimated Rs750 million annually through granting permissions for putting up these hoardings.

The only person who appears to be confident about the cleanliness drive is the Commissioner, Shoaib Siddiqui. "We have removed several billboards in different parts of the city and more will be removed in the next few days."

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2015.