Bhubaneswar, Nov. 11: The municipal corporation has begun removing illegal hoardings and advertisements in various parts of the city. The decision to do this was taken nearly a week ago.

The civic officials began the job from Raj Mahal Square, which is plastered with a number of illegal hoardings and billboards. The primary aim of the move is to ensure the safety of citizens on the roads in tune with the directives of the Supreme Court. According to the Odisha Outdoor Advertisement and Hoarding Policy, 2015, urban local bodies are supposed to ensure that this policy is implemented keeping road safety in mind.

"It is a good move of the administration to remove the hoardings from the roads because they always pose a threat in form of distraction on the roads. It also makes the city look ugly," said Devdutta Panda, a shop-owner at Raj Mahal Square.

"Our enforcement squad begun the process today and will continue the drive till the directives of the Supreme Court are implemented properly on the city roads and road safety is ensured," said municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar, who was present during the drive yesterday along with other officials of Bhubaneswar Development Authority.

The officials removed rooftop hoardings from Raj Mahal to Sishu Bhavan Square. Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said that many rooftop hoardings posed a major threat to the general public because the city was vulnerable to cyclones.

"Many mishaps have already taken place due to uprooting of rooftop hoardings during cyclones and storms. There are also instances of rooftop hoardings posing threat to the structure of buildings. The aim here is to ensure the safety of our citizens and we are committed to it," said Jena.

The civic body has also decided to implement the Regulation of Tax on Advertisement which says no person shall erect, exhibit, fix, retain or display any advertisement on any building or land which may distract the view of traffic causing distraction to motorists and endangering public safety.

"It is important for business establishments to display their products through hoardings and billboards. However, there should be a regulation to have these in proper places. The administration should also bring government advertisements into the regulations and remove those wherever they violate the norms," said Niladri Vihar resident Hira Nayak, a social worker.

The rules further prohibit erection of hoardings or billboards at religious places such as temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches and buildings within 100 metres of such places. The rules also bring educational institutions and cremation grounds into the ambit.

"Following the rules, we will also remove hoardings near flyovers, railway overbridges, water tanks, communication towers, transmission towers or any land or building within 100 metres of such sites. These are also mentioned in the road safety guideline of the state and the Centre," said an official of the civic body.