Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Hoardings to be cleared along roads, expressways

Snehil Sinha, Hindustan Times  Gurgaon, December 03, 2014

The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has removed several hoardings and wall wraps from buildings near NH-8.

The drive, which started on Monday, comes after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on November 21 passed an order, directing that all advertisements and hoardings — excluding those put up at 77 sites approved by the court-appointed road safety expert — must be removed.

The order was passed to ensure road safety, especially along the expressway. Navdeep Asija, the road safety expert, has suggested removing more unipoles and wall wraps, displaying advertisements.

Wall wraps on buildings, including ABW Tower and Signature Tower, were pulled down on Monday.

"We have removed several hoardings, unipoles, wall wraps and billboards from buildings along the DelhiGurgaon expressway in our day-long operation. The drive will continue till we complete the exercise as directed by the High Court. We have to submit an action-taken report soon," said MCG's chief engineer RK Singla on Monday.

According to MCG officials, wall wraps on around five buildings along the highway and 10 unipoles, displaying advertisements, may be removed soon. The unipoles are located in new Gurgaon areas. Of these, five are located near the Huda City Centre Metro station.

A day after the HC passed this interim order, the MCG had pulled down 15 unipoles along NH-8.

"The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon having accepted the sites identified is permitted to invite tenders subject, however, to the removal of all other illegal hoardings, signages and glow signs, etc," the court order stated.

According to a report submitted by Asija, only 77 of the proposed 200 sites in the city have been approved for advertisements.

The report suggests that advertisements put up on or around NH-8 should be removed immediately in view of the safety of commuters on the high-speed stretch.

"The placement of these advertisements creates obstruction and distracts drivers, especially on fast-moving stretches like highways. There are other strategic locations in the city too where these advertisements can be profitably placed, without overlooking road safety," said Asija

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