FAILING SYSTEM
NO ONE KILLED SUBASHREE
No Permission Given In Past One Year To Erect Hoardings, Say Corpn & Cops. But How Did One Crop Up And Kill Techie?
Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com 13.09.2019
There has been public anger, petitions from social activists and a Madras high court order banning them, but hoardings continue to be everywhere. Hailing politicians, announcing a wedding, celebrating a first birthday or mourning a death, they are ubiquitous. No enforcement agency takes them off the road, nor are officials pulled up for their chronic inaction.
At times the government sends out press releases and threatens to slap fines and take action, but matters do not proceed further. In reports filed by corporation officials, violators are seldom named.
On Thursday, 24-year-old techie R Subashree died after an illegal hoarding erected on the median along the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road by AIADMK functionary S Jayagopal fell on her. The woman was on her way home from work. Almost two years ago, a software engineer died in Coimbatore after his bike rammed a wooden structure set up by the ruling party.
While Jayagopal refused to take multiple calls from TOI, officials from Greater Chennai Corporation said no permission had been issued for erection of banners since December 2018 when a blanket ban was imposed by the Madras high court. The police too said they had not issued NOCs in the past one year. Yet the authorities were not able to say how these hoarding crop up. All eyes now will be on the high court that will hear on Friday a pending contempt petition moved before it by activist ‘Traffic’ K R Ramaswamy against the TN chief secretary for failing to implement the court direction on unauthorised digital banners.
K Kathirmathiyon, an activist who has filed several public interest litigations with the Madras high court regarding illegal hoardings, said while the civic body might conduct random drives and remove these banners, it should be held accountable.
“Unless cases are filed against officials for not enforcing rules, there will be no change. Pulling up the public for non-compliance won’t solve the problem, both are responsible. Not a single bureaucrat is ever punished whenever such an incident takes place. We have suggested to the government to slap 304(A) on bureaucrats and officials when such accidents take place and illegal hoardings are set up,” he said.
R Lalitha, joint commissioner, revenue, corporation, said since December last year, the civic body has booked 471 cases online against people who have erected illegal banners. “We had held a meeting in March where we told political parties not to set up hoardings,” she said.
But corporation officials at the zonal level said such exercises were futile as whenever they try to remove banners and hoardings, they face departmental action. “One officer was transferred last year because he wanted to implement the high court order and remove illegal political banners in T Nagar,” said an engineer. He said police also refuse to file FIRs.
The drive against hoardings is not new. “In 2012, the Supreme Court and Madras high court had said that hoardings should not be set up on medians. Earlier, the medians were constructed by private parties and they placed advertisements for revenue generation. But due to this order, it was stopped immediately. A government order was issued to remove all advertisement boards and hoardings,” said Kathirmathiyon. But the government is yet to do that.
UP IN ARMS: Motorists protest against illegal hoardings erected by an AIADMK functionary in Pallikaranai. One of the hoardings fell on a techie and led to her death
WHAT BAN?
Hoardings and banners are a common sight in Chennai despite a blanket ban. Most of the offenders are from political parties against whom authorities don’t act
NO ONE KILLED SUBASHREE
No Permission Given In Past One Year To Erect Hoardings, Say Corpn & Cops. But How Did One Crop Up And Kill Techie?
Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com 13.09.2019
There has been public anger, petitions from social activists and a Madras high court order banning them, but hoardings continue to be everywhere. Hailing politicians, announcing a wedding, celebrating a first birthday or mourning a death, they are ubiquitous. No enforcement agency takes them off the road, nor are officials pulled up for their chronic inaction.
At times the government sends out press releases and threatens to slap fines and take action, but matters do not proceed further. In reports filed by corporation officials, violators are seldom named.
On Thursday, 24-year-old techie R Subashree died after an illegal hoarding erected on the median along the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road by AIADMK functionary S Jayagopal fell on her. The woman was on her way home from work. Almost two years ago, a software engineer died in Coimbatore after his bike rammed a wooden structure set up by the ruling party.
While Jayagopal refused to take multiple calls from TOI, officials from Greater Chennai Corporation said no permission had been issued for erection of banners since December 2018 when a blanket ban was imposed by the Madras high court. The police too said they had not issued NOCs in the past one year. Yet the authorities were not able to say how these hoarding crop up. All eyes now will be on the high court that will hear on Friday a pending contempt petition moved before it by activist ‘Traffic’ K R Ramaswamy against the TN chief secretary for failing to implement the court direction on unauthorised digital banners.
K Kathirmathiyon, an activist who has filed several public interest litigations with the Madras high court regarding illegal hoardings, said while the civic body might conduct random drives and remove these banners, it should be held accountable.
“Unless cases are filed against officials for not enforcing rules, there will be no change. Pulling up the public for non-compliance won’t solve the problem, both are responsible. Not a single bureaucrat is ever punished whenever such an incident takes place. We have suggested to the government to slap 304(A) on bureaucrats and officials when such accidents take place and illegal hoardings are set up,” he said.
R Lalitha, joint commissioner, revenue, corporation, said since December last year, the civic body has booked 471 cases online against people who have erected illegal banners. “We had held a meeting in March where we told political parties not to set up hoardings,” she said.
But corporation officials at the zonal level said such exercises were futile as whenever they try to remove banners and hoardings, they face departmental action. “One officer was transferred last year because he wanted to implement the high court order and remove illegal political banners in T Nagar,” said an engineer. He said police also refuse to file FIRs.
The drive against hoardings is not new. “In 2012, the Supreme Court and Madras high court had said that hoardings should not be set up on medians. Earlier, the medians were constructed by private parties and they placed advertisements for revenue generation. But due to this order, it was stopped immediately. A government order was issued to remove all advertisement boards and hoardings,” said Kathirmathiyon. But the government is yet to do that.
UP IN ARMS: Motorists protest against illegal hoardings erected by an AIADMK functionary in Pallikaranai. One of the hoardings fell on a techie and led to her death
WHAT BAN?
Hoardings and banners are a common sight in Chennai despite a blanket ban. Most of the offenders are from political parties against whom authorities don’t act
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