Coimbatore: The city corporation’s ambitious smart board project is facing several hurdles. While social activists have filed a petition against it, the highways department has warned the corporation against setting up the boards along roads.
The civic body had proposed setting up of 30 digital boards to display information on tax payment, pollution level, rules and regulations, awareness messages and even real-time traffic details last year. The work order for the project, which will be implemented under public-private partnership (PPP), was also issued. The corporation was planning to use information and communications technology (ICT) to display all the information in the corporation website on the boards. It was also eyeing the revenue generated by displaying advertisements on the boards.
Meanwhile, K Kathirmathiyon of Coimbatore Consumer Cause issued a notice to the civic body and various departments stating that the boards cannot be set up as they are against not just the high court order prohibiting setting up of advertisement boards on highways, but also against the Indian Road Congress norms and Coimbatore city municipal corporation act.
As per the Indian Road Congress norms, any advertisement that is illuminated, containing flashing, moving lights, intermittent lights except those giving public service information such as time, temperature, weather or date are prohibited.
Also, the municipal administration and water supply department issued a warning this month to the city corporation and district collector to remove all unauthorised advertisement boards and to not provide any no-objection certificate to such boards.
Kathirmathiyon told TOI that the corporation violated all norms by issuing work order and allowing maintenance for 15 years when norms specified that permanent hoardings or boards can only be set up for a maximum of three years. “I will file a contempt petition and also call for an inquiry into this work order,” he said.
Meanwhile, corporation officials said that they had specified all the norms in the tender document. “The clause for 15-year maintenance is only because the company needs to generate revenue from these boards,” an official said.