The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has ordered a crackdown on the use of flex, banners and buntings across the city.
Besides, it is also illegal as the MCC had passed a resolution against such display. It wants to make the city free of display of banners as it mars the visual appeal and aesthetics.
MCC Commissioner Gurudutt Hegde said the directive also applies to advertisement hoards that tends to come up in places not authorised by the corporation.
He said there are designated places identified by the MCC where the advertisement bill boards and hoardings can be displayed on payment of fee.
But it has come to the notice of the corporation that unauthorised display of hoardings and bill boards were rampant and at places where they are not authorised and hence a crackdown has been ordered. The crackdown has led to levying penalties in some cases of unauthorised display of hoardings and flexes, said Mr. Hegde.
The Commissioner pointed out buntings and flex boards bearing pictures of individuals and announcing their birthday had become common and were proliferating across the city. In addition, there is a practice of announcing the death of any individual by putting up a poster of the deceased mentioning their date of birth and date of death in public places, all of which will be prohibited.
As for as political rallies and functions are concerned the MCC issues permission for the use of flexes and banners but they have to be pulled down soon after the rally or the programme is over and cannot be left there for an indefinite period.
The Commissioner also drew attention to the current practice of advertisement boards and banners nailed to the trees. This practice too was getting out of hand and hence the corporation had decided to penalise the advertisers as most of them tend to mention their contact numbers for offer of service be it tuition, getting Aadhaar card, driving licence, renewal of policies etc.
But this is not the first time that the MCC has ordered such a crackdown. However, posters and banners tend to appear with unceasing regularity in by-lanes and on boards indicating the street number, thus masking the address.