Despite the recent notice of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) to political parties for the removal of the public display of hoardings and posters from public places within 24 hours, such displays are still visible across the city. As an initiative to tackle the habitual defacement of public and private properties in Dehradun, the corporation recently issued notices to six political parties with the instruction to remove all such displays within 24 hours but the situation is still the same.
Most of the political banners and posters are still where they were days ago. However, the municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey stated that since the corporation issued notices on Saturday evening, it is possible that many parties did not receive the notice till Monday but he assured that action will be taken against those who will not remove such public displays soon under the Prevention of Defacement of Public Property (PDPP) Act, 2003. “The corporation has started the campaign against the defacement of public properties in the city and our team removed several posters from public properties in Rajpur Road and nearby Chakrata Road. Anyone found to be violating the rules will be punished under the Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 2003,” said Pandey. The culprits, whether they are locals or members of political parties will be treated equally by the corporation, asserted Pandey.
Meanwhile, many experts praised this initiative of the corporation but also expressed their apprehension about the proper implementation of the orders. According to them, the corporation has asked the parties to remove the public displays within the given time but did not ban putting up posters and banners in public properties. Social activist and founder of Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation, Anoop Nautiyal stated that the initiative is praiseworthy and the corporation should enforce this order the whole year rather than issuing it just because of Swachh Survekshan 2021. He further added that the monitoring of the campaign can also pose a great challenge to the corporation, especially during election seasons and therefore, MCD should hold a meeting with all the major political parties to restrict the defacement of public properties in the city.
Tuesday, 19 January 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
