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Raipur, Apr 07: In an effort to regulate display of hoardings and billboards on buildings and ensure safety of public life and property, Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) has made it mandatory for advertisement agencies to ensure structural strength of advertisement hoardings.
Advertisement agencies seeking permission of civic authorities for display of advertisement need to get their hoardings or billboards designed by registered structural engineers. However, it has been seen that after permission of civic body, many people have been using their private space for advertisement to earn money without considering safety norms.
Many private building owners have hardly been considering structural or peripheral safety while putting up the hoardings. So much so that they have been violating the normal size norm. In some cases unsavoury scenes and visual distraction are created by advertisement boards on the roadsides.
According to RMC Town Planner, BR Agrawal, conditions have already been laid for checking structural strength and safety of the buildings that seek permission for putting up such hoardings on them. However, in view of recent stormy weather conditions that it has been made mandatory for the agencies to ensure structural strength of advertisement boards, he said. Weak advertisement hoardings or billboards are likely to break or fall besides causing collapse of the building especially during stormy weather. Under such circumstances they may cause loss of life or property.
Taking this in mind, the RMC has told all advertisement agencies to obtain certificate from registered structural engineers over structural strength of their hoardings or billboards. The certificate has to be submitted along with affidavits over structural strength in RMC white house within 15 days.
Agrawal warned that in case of any loss of life or property by advertisement hoardings or billboards, the concerned agencies which failed submit affidavits with certificate on structural strength, would be solely responsible. Under such circumstances the licence of the agencies would be cancelled, he said. Meanwhile the rate list on sizes of advertisement hoardings has been revised after a gap of six years. The rates have been hiked by nearly 30 per cent, informed a civic official.
