Shah Alam Nur :
Illegal billboards are mushrooming in Dhaka city and as a result, its dwellers are exposed to serious risks of fatal accidents, particularly during storms.
A large number of billboards have been built illegally where they don’t have any proper safety measures. More than 70 per cent billboards are illegal in the capital’s two city corporations, sources said.
It was alleged that in many cases officials of the two city corporations and the ruling Awami League men are handling these illegal billboards for money. Since the billboards are being used on political influence, the law enforcing agencies are helpless to stop it.
Sources said, numerous billboards on roadsides and rooftops are usually set up on weak foundation and as a result they easily get unhinged during a storm or heavy rain. Furthermore, they remain as constant eyesores for the citizens, as these structures rob the natural beauty of the land all around.
A lot has been written in the media about the monstrosity called billboards but no measures have been taken by any government ever to limit their number and earmark specific spots for their installation.
The Roads and Highways Department, Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB), the railway authorities and private building owners have rented out spaces and rooftops for billboards without permission from the relevant authorities. Exact numbers are not available, but sources said Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has about 900 legal billboards against some 1,500 illegal ones (of which 527 are privately owned).
In Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), there are about 1,500 legal billboards against some 1,200 illegal ones.
An official of the DSCC said that of those illegal billboards, 257 were permitted by the Cantonment Board, 173 by the Air Force, 147 by the Bangladesh Railway, 10 by Dhaka WASA and 22 by Bangladesh Police, while 443 are owned by private citizens.
Last April, a big billboard collapsed on several vehicles on road near Dhaka Club at Shahbagh when the car of a lawmaker, a police van, three minibuses and several rickshaws were damaged. The lawmaker, who was in the car, was unhurt but two rickshaw pullers were wounded.
Sources said in recent years, such haphazardly erected billboards proved fatal.
On March 15, 2010, two people died and eight others were injured when an 800 square feet hoarding sitting wobbly atop a shopping complex in Gulshan-1 collapsed. On April 20 the following year, a giant billboard collapsed near Dhanmondi Road-8 during a storm, though there was no casualty.
“The advertisement business is not in the hands of businessmen anymore. It is now controlled by the ruling party men. Most of them don’t care for the law or safety measures,” said a businessman.
There are several organizations which can allow using their lands for establishing advertising tools. They are Dhaka WASA, Roads and Highway Department, Bangladesh Police, CAAB (Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh), Cantonment Board, Bangladesh Railway and Water Development Board.
The DNCC published a notice in newspapers in February, giving 15 days’ time for the illegal billboard owners to take permission from the city authorities but still they don’t have any activities for that.
Under the law, prior permission of the city corporation is a must for setting up billboards. It is also mandatory for ad firms and private owners to collect no objection certificates from authorised engineers as a proof of safety. But most companies and private owners violate the rules.
According to the existing billboard policy, the maximum height of a billboard will not exceed 40 feet from ground level, while the size of billboards will be the same on the VIP roads running between Bangabhaban to Airport via Dainik Bangla crossing, Fakirerpool crossing, Kakrail mosque crossing, Sheraton crossing, Farmgate-Mohakhali and Banani crossing.
Ansar Ali Khan, chief executive officer of DSCC, said they could not conduct drives in many cases for a lack of logistics, manpower and police force.
He however said, they are serious about the illegal billboards and would carry out drives against them anytime.
