After its several notices were ignored by hoarding board owners, the KMC launched the drive to remove the hoarding boards on its own from June 27.
The KMC has carried out its campaign mainly around New Road, Rashtriya Sabha Griha and Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA), Maitighar Mandala so far. The KMC says it will continue the campaign until all illegally put up hoarding boards are removed.[break]
According to the KMC, there are still some 400 unregistered hoarding boards in the capital. And the KMC says it is determined to remove all those hoarding boards that have been put up unlawfully. Even among the registered hoarding boards, many are not as per the standards set by the KMC, says Dhanapati Sapkota, chief of Implementation Department of the KMC.
“If the registered hoarding boards are not as per the standards set by the KMC, they, too, will be thrown away. But we will provide them one month´s time to get things right," said Sapkota.
The KMC says it initiated the campaign against hoarding boards for the safety of pedestrians and keeping the beauty of the city intact. However, the hoarding board owners are against the KMC´s campaign. They even called for a strike recently, which was withdrawn at the last minute.
Signage Association Nepal, an umbrella organization of hoarding board owners, also forwarded a nine-point demand, including the withdrawal of the decision to remove hoarding boards and action against the corrupt officers.
The entrepreneurs have filed a case against the KMC at Patan Appellate Court on January 23, as they are not satisfied with the KMC´s decision.
The agitators have asked the government to compensate the losses they are bound to suffer from the move, but the government is not ready to fulfill their demand. Surya Bahadur Karki, chief of the association, has said that they will continue with their protest program until the government agrees to provide them compensation for their losses.
According to the KMC, they will pull down every hoarding board from the capital city that is not built according to the standard.
“Their protest program will not create any difficulty in our campaign. The government will not address their demands so it is better that they take out the hoarding boards themselves,” said Sapkota.
Interview with Dhanapati Sapkota, Chief of Implementation Department Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)
Why is the KMC pulling down hoarding boards?
There are three main reasons behind our action. First, hoarding boards are diminishing the beauty of the city. Second, they pose a threat to the safety of pedestrians as many hoarding boards do not have strong foundation supporting them. They can fall down on people during heavy rain or storm. Third, they have badly affected traffic management. Some hoarding boards have models wearing sexy outfits. Such advertisements can distract people while they are crossing the road or driving vehicles.
Have there been incidents of people getting hurt because of hoarding boards?
Yes, there have been many cases. But we have not maintained any record of such incidents. It is because hoarding board owners often compensate the victims to hush up the matter. They do not let the police or authorities know about such cases. But people get killed after being crushed by hoarding boards every year.
Why didn´t you carry out such campaign earlier?
We wanted to launch this campaign much earlier. But hoarding board owners sought some time with us to find an alternative. Upon their request, we gave them one year´s time to remove all hoarding boards on their own. In the mean time, we issued several notices to them to act on time. But they did not take us seriously.
What is the KMC´s take on hoarding board owners´ demands?
Hoarding board owners are seeking compensation for the loss resulting from our drive. But we are dead against their demands. We will neither stop our campaign nor will consider their demands.
That means nobody will be allowed to put up hoarding boards in the capital?
If people want to put up hoarding boards in the capital, they should follow certain standards. We have recently formulated a policy to regulate boards that carry advertisement. If people want to put up hoarding boards, they should strictly follow standards as mentioned in our policy document.
KMC set standards for hoarding boards
Hoarding boards should not be installed on terraces and roofs of buildings. They should not be installed within 100 meters of heritage sites and major government offices like Singha Durbar, Shital Niwas and the vice president´s office. Similarly, hoarding boards that are more than 100 square feet in size must be insured. Likewise, hoarding boards that are 200 square feet in size should be registered at the KMC.
The KMC will allow them to be registered only when engineers approve of their designs. The KMC issues identity cards to people whose hoarding boards are registered at the KMC. Others are not allowed to erect hoarding boards. One person will not get permission to build more than one hoarding board. While installing hoarding boards on private properties, owners should leave 10 feet land space around the hoarding board area for public safety. All hoarding boards should have solar light system, among others.
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