Hoardings re-appear due to police inaction: MCDs to HC

The municipal corporations here have told Delhi High Court that one of the "major hurdles" in removal of illegal hoardings in the city was their reappearance due to alleged inaction by the police.
The corporations have contended before the high court that wherever immediate action was required, complaints were forwarded to Delhi Police, but "no action was forthcoming" from them.
In view of the allegations made by the corporations, a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva sought the police's response on whether there has been any inaction on its part and, if yes, to take immediate steps to find a remedy.

The corporations have been asked to file their status reports containing instances of inaction by police before the next date of hearing in August.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by retired Col. Shivraj Kumar, who contended that advertisement hoardings, banners, posters and billboards of varying sizes were being put up on residential buildings in violation of policy and the law.
In May last year, the court had ordered the corporations to remove all hoardings, billboards, unipoles and other forms of outdoor advertising which were in violation of the 2007 Outdoor Advertising Policy (OAP).
The court, thereafter in September last year, had directed the municipal corporations to remove all illegal hoardings at public and private advertisement sites in the national capital within eight weeks by uniformly applying the OAP and provide from time to time sought status reports of the progress made.

The court had also directed removal of superstructures which are left behind after the hoardings are taken off, saying they be either removed by the corporations or the occupant of the premises where they have been put up.