NDMC removes 7 illegal rooftop ads in Karol Bagh; 212 FIRs

Seven illegal rooftop advertisements were today removed from a commercial area in Karol Bagh in north Delhi, the NDMC said.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) as part of formulating its new advertising policy has been taking action against illegal advertising in the city for the last couple of weeks, besides its regular anti-encroachment drive.
"Today we (NDMC) removed seven illegal rooftop advertisements at Kamal Restaurant Chowk in our Karol Bagh zone. Five unipoles were also removed in Rajinder Nagar area of the same zone," a senior official of the NDMC said.
Alongside proposing the new outdoor advertisement policy, the NDMC on May 21 had decided to crack the whip against illegal advertisements in its area and set a deadline of 15 days for their complete removal.

"Besides, 212 cases have been filed against defaulters in this connection in the last six-seven months. Among them, about 52 cases have been lodged in last one month," the official said, adding, "prosecution action has been initiated against 60 of them."
According to NDMC, the civic body annually earns on an average "Rs 20-25 crore through its advertising revenues."

"This financial year, we expect that number to be about Rs 50 crore. A new advertising policy is on the cards and a sub-committee has already been constituted and it will soon be tabled in the Standing Committee meeting.
"As it includes cluster policy, we are expecting to boost our revenues also after it gets implemented," he added.

"Our revenues have also diminished because at some places, we have to share them with other entities like PWD, DTC, Delhi Metro and even Railways," he said.