Beer advertisement near Hall Gate irks city residents

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 20

An advertisement board to promote beer installed outside Hall Gate has become an eyesore for city residents. Advertisements for alcohol promotion are not allowed as per the law.

The advertisement showing beer mugs and address of the bar serving it is displayed adjacent to a board put up by the administration which has a map of the walled city and history of the city written on it.

Most of the people use this passage through Hall Gate to reach Golden Temple.

Kuljit Singh Malawali, an advocate, said, “It is a well-known fact that promotion of alcohol is not allowed and this is why most of the brands issue surrogate advertisements on the pretext of promoting CDs and music cassettes. It is astonishing that nobody has taken a notice of the same.”

Further, the advertisement in question is illegal as it has been hung on a light pole. “The Municipal Corporation (MC) has earmarked unipoles which can be used for putting up billboards. The use of electricity poles, light poles or similar structures is not allowed,” said Harnam Singh, a city resident.

Meanwhile, an official of the MC, requesting anonymity, said, “We were not aware of the illegal advertisement. We will check it and action will be taken accordingly.”