Impose heavy fines on violators for defacement

Like other problems which are creating hindrances to make this city smart and healthy, defacing the city through displaying unauthorised advertisements such as illegal banners, hoardings and posters with different messages is also a major problem. The defacement of public and private properties is rampant in the city and is a clear violation under the Punjab Prevention of Defacement of Property Act-1997. During elections time, be it Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha or Municipal Corporation polls; the city becomes shabby as the walls are covered with illegal hoardings banners and posters. Leaders of almost all political parties are fully responsible to deface the city during elections. At present, the city has been flooded with illegal political advertisements, and to curb such shabby outlook of the city MC authorities are doing nothing. When a common man displays a banner or posters, heavy fine is levied. In some cases even FIRs are also registered but the MC authorities keep a soft corners toward. Laws should be equally applied for all. The date of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation elections is yet to be announced, the defacing of the city has been started already by installing illegal banners and posters by political parties to seek votes. It is the responsibility of the civic body to keep a check on violators and take actions as per law. The civic body can also generate heavy fine from violators especially from political leaders for displaying the hoardings and none should be allowed to deface the city. Specific sites should be earmarked for this purpose. After prescribed days, all authorised advertisements should be removed immediately.

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Kuldip Singh Kreer

Admn must charge fine

All walls in the city are defaced with banners of politicians on occasion of festivals, elections or if any senior politician visits city. This is one of the common scenarios in India. The places which are maintained and cleaned are used for pasting posters and advertisements. The walls become ugly by pasting such posters. Education increases the civic sense. Keeping the city clean should be the responsibility of not only the citizens but also government servants and politicians. The political hoardings should be set up only at the earmarked space for commercial advertisements. These hoardings distract motorists which sometimes lead to accidents. Heavy penalty by Municipal Corporation should be imposed on violators. Awareness camps regarding visual pollution should be organised by corporation. The city police should create pages on social networking sites such as facebook and twitter, where people can upload pictures or videos of offenders which could be used as an evidence for taking necessary action against the violators. The violators should be fined and even sent to jail. The police and local administration should not be silent against defacement especially against politicians.

Dr Jasdeep Kaur

Pay for defacements

The problem of defacement of public property by politician can be easily tackled if the civic body is serious to control it. Firstly, Municipal Corporation should immediately remove the banners put up by the politician from all sites. The corporation may constitute a team of officials who should keep tab over posters in the city. Another step which can be taken by the MC is that it should charge politicians on the basis of per poster, thus increasing revenue as well. Another step which can be taken by the MC is to levy heavy fines to curb defacement. However, if political parties do not pay these fines then the MC should let people know about such parties through social media to reveal its real face in public.

Dr G Dev, Kitchlu Nagar

Election Commission should intervene

No political party, candidate, party workers or supporters have any right to deface or spoil any property whether it is public or private by pasting posters, writing slogans or painting party symbols. Public places such as parks, bus stand, railway station, colleges, government buildings are the most common targets of these politicians during the election period of time to write congratulatory or birthday messages. Besides, they even do not spare a tree, fence, pole or a wooden structure. It seems politicians fail to understand that putting up of posters and banners not only hamper the right to hygienic environment but also affects the beauty of the city as it is an eyesore to the viewers. The problem prevails because the government is playing a role of silent spectator to the undesirable acts of the political parties, candidates, their workers and supporters. Local bodies also fail to pass an order with special instructions to these politicians not to display hoarding or board during any eve or occasion. In order to tackle the issue, first of all, the Election Commission of India needs to impose a condition on political parties that if they deface public property with illegal hoardings, they can be stripped of their registration or can be acquitted from polls. Secondly, intervention of the political ombudsman should be made mandatory with immediate effect. It may be appropriate to constitute a ‘Nodal Agency’ even for taking actions in respect of all the illegal posters, banners, hoardings or boards. Thirdly, anti-defacement squads should be formed in order to remove illegal hoardings, banners, posters and to prevent the defacing of public property must be formed without wasting a single minute. Each and every squad should be equipped with five trucks, sufficient labour, ladder and other equipments. At last, the state government needs to review the provisions of The Punjab Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007, to bring some amendments in terms of stringent actions for punishment and imprisonment so as to deter vandals, rioters and arsonists along with politicians.

RaviI Chander Garg,

Separate venues should be for banners

Humans are considered to be the most rational and wise creature on this planet. So, it is our duty and responsibility of each and every citizen to keep our society neat and clean. At the time of election, be it a local state or national level; political parties start to deface not only the public but also the private properties. Well, if our leaders won’t take care of public property, then how can they take care of common masses? It is against the rule and regulations laid down by the Election Commission and state governments that no party has the right to deface public property but as leaders you may put banners and hoarding on private property by taking permission of the owner and no coercion should be there. Firstly, leaders need to understand that no political party or individual is above law. Those who are defacing public property should be punished as per law of the land. Secondly, candidate of any party or individual who defaces should be debarred to contest polls. Thirdly, a heavy fine should be imposed on violators of rules. There must be a separate space which should be reserved for fixing banners and hoardings for each contestant. Fourthly, to avoid defacing, the size of the banner or the hording should be fixed. Even on private property, banners or hoarding should not be fixed for more than two days. Similarly, at prime locations the CCTV cameras should be installed to check on those who deface property.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

Admn must adopt strict guidelines

Defacing public and private property in the city is a perpetual nuisance created by not only political parties but religious and business organisations too. Whenever, the elections are on the cards, virtually every political party tries to surpass the other in displaying the details of their candidates through posters pasted on the walls of private and public property, hoardings or hanging banners on the roads. The business housesalso contribute to deface private and public property. They hang up banners related to their advertisements in the middle of a road, which is an obstacle for the free flow of traffic. Not only this, different religious organisations also install boards on electricity/ telephone poles alongside main roads and residential areas displaying information in respect of any upcoming event. Incidentally, some of them are hanged at the crossings which lead to obstruction in visibility of vehicles on the other side thus risking occurrence of accident. Ironically, once the function or the event is over, it is nobody’s responsibility to remove them and these are left hanging for indefinite period. To arrest this menace, the administration need to be very strict and formulate a policy to curb this practice by imposing fine on the offenders, be it a political party, religious or business organisation without any discrimination. Secondly, a particular space in different localities should be designated where the advertising material can be displayed and the violators should be punished. On the sidelines, general public should also be made aware of civic sense if we are dreaming of making Ludhiana as a smart city.

Dr GS Bahl

Politicians should discourage defacement

Defacement of property is a continuous menace and has become a common practice in Punjab. Despite having been declared illegal by our judiciary and lawmakers, political parties are using public property for their personal benefits. To please senior leaders, party workers paste large hoardings, banners, posters on the wall and signboards during and even after the elections. Therefore, political leaders should take initiative to discourage such activities. If someone is caught indulged in such things, they should not come forward to pressurise the police or enforcement authority to forgive such people. If legislators start following the rules only then they can advice others to follow the rules. The officers concerned should also work honestly to end this menace. People should be made aware about the penal consequences of defacing public property.

Navdeep Kaur Beniwal

Declare defacement as offence

The defacement of public as well as private property is a major obstacle in keeping the city look beautiful. Advertisers from all sectors for their vested interests, leave no stone unturned to make the city look ugly .The political parties and the politicians with immediate concern, are more to be blamed. The problem takes a grave turn when it comes to the time of election campaign. Every available wall or place is defaced without giving a second thought. All electric / telephone poles are covered with buntings and flags carrying messages and slogans. The defacement should be declared a heinous offence and the entire onus should be on the person or party responsible for defacing it. In addition to criminal liability, a considerable amount of fine and due cost incurred for damages must be recovered from the concerned one. People must boycott and excommunicate from society. We must come forward if our private property is damaged on account of defacement by the politicians.

SK Mittal, Khanna

OPEN HOUSE COMMENT
Boycott those who deface property
Minna Zutshi

Defacement of the public (even private) property is rampant during the elections. Pasting posters, writing slogans, putting up banners - defacements are not only an eyesore but also a blatant violation of the rules. The public censure can be an effective tool in tackling the issue of defacement. 

A strong public opinion against the politicians who deface the public property will be a welcome step. Why not boycott the leaders/candidates and even political parties that deface the public property with unnecessary banners and posters? Most importantly, a penal action against those who deface the public property is mandated.

OPEN HOUSE QUESTION

Despite the rhetoric about ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’, Ludhiana city is still struggling to fulfill the goals of the cleanliness campaign. How can Ludhiana city be made clean in reality? ludhiana.feedback@gmail.com