Law should be equal for all, say residents in city

Ludhiana: Illegal banners of ruling party leaders on road direction boards are raising many eyebrows.  The Municipal Corporation had directed political parties not to display any illegal political advertisements in the city, but to no avail. As a result, the purpose of road direction boards has been defeated, causing trouble for commuters. These banners were displayed before the Independence Day, but no action was taken in this regard.  It is learnt that illegal banners were displayed to welcome Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who presided over the state-level Independence Day function in the city.  Earlier, the MC had written to all major political parties to avoid displaying their illegal advertisements warning them of requisite action as per the Punjab Municipal Act, 1976. Forget any action, the MC failed to get these illegal political advertisements removed from the direction boards.  An activist said: “It is the responsibility of the elected representatives to ask their supporters not to display any illegal political hoardings and banners in the city. The civic body should ensure the implementation of the policy and take requisite action to stop such violations.”  Col JS Brar (retired) of Maha Sabha, an NGO, said commuters face inconvenience when political hoardings are displayed on direction boards. “The civic body should take action against illegal hoardings and banners and also against violators. The politicians should follow rules as the law is equal for all. The elected representatives should know their responsibilities,” he said. MC Joint Commissioner Kulpreet Singh could not be contacted. — Harshraj Singh

What the policy says...

• Under the Punjab Municipal Outdoor Advertisement Policy, 2018, the MC is supposed to ensure the redress of the complaint received against illegal advertisements within three days. However, citizens complained that they were unable to get their complaints regarding illegal hoardings registered on MC’s website. 
• The MC had written to all major political parties to avoid displaying their illegal advertisements warning them of requisite action as per the Punjab Municipal Act, 1976, but to no avail.