NDMC budget proposes designated 'poster walls'

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation today proposed creating designated walls for putting up posters, seeking to prevent defacement of public properties through sticking of advertising material.
Municipal Commissioner Madhup Vyas, while presenting the NDMC budget at the Civic Centre here, said, once the policy comes into force, those violating the norm, would be "strictly punished".
"The NDMC would identify some walls in its jurisdiction for allowing the citizens to paste posters. Those found sticking posters on walls other than the identified ones, would be strictly punished," he said.
A senior civic official said there is already a prevention of the defacement act in force in Delhi, but the idea is to regularise the process, so that people only use the designated spots and do not paste posters wantonly.

"We have community halls, dispensaries in various zones. We can mark a portion of the walls on such buildings for sticking of posters. Though the size has not been thought of, these poster walls could measure 20 ft x 10 ft in dimension," he told PTI.
In areas like Mukherjee Nagar, Kamala Nagar, located near the Delhi University, a lot of people stick posters either for campus polls or advertising purposes. This process would now regulate the pasting of posters, the official said.

"We already have the Delhi Prevention Of Defacement Of Property Act, and can invite punishment to an offender with imprisonment of upto one year or with fine which may extend to 50,000, or both. Idea is to keep our city buildings clean," he added.

The proposal would now be sent to the Standing Committee of the NDMC for approval.
Meanwhile, Vyas in his budget speech also said that "84 per cent work on Rani Jhansi Grade Separator has been completed".
It is likely to be over by the end of this financial year, he said.
The civic official said that the delay in executing the flyover project was due to legal hurdles, which have now been cleared.