Bhubaneswar: The civic body on Saturday slapped a Rs 1-crore fine on Saksham Cyclothon organiser Petroleum Conservation Research Association, which functions under the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas, for putting up banners in the no-hoarding zones without taking permission.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation lodged an FIR at Capital police station against the people, who had created problem when the eviction squads were removing the hoardings.
Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan is scheduled to flag off the cyclothon on Sunday morning.
Mayor Ananat Narayn Jena said: "The organisers have not taken permission from the civic body while putting up hoardings and banners. While a drive is on to make the city beautiful, such illegal activities cannot be tolerated."
Deputy commissioner Srimanta Mishra said: "They have not deposited advertisement fees to put up the hoardings. According to the BMC Advertisement Rules, 2006, an organiser should pay Rs 5,000 for each hoarding. As they have put up 2,000 hoardings, we have levied a Rs 1 crore fine."
Sources said the corporation was planning to blacklist the agency, which had put up the hoardings on the association's instruction without taking the required approval.
An Indian Oil official, on the other hand, said: "We are yet to get the notice. Once we receive it, we will react."
A civic official said: "Earlier, we had removed the hoardings carrying blow-ups of chief minister Naveen Patnaik from the no-hoarding zone area. Whoever flouts the norms will be punished. The Naveen government is perhaps the only one in India which has removed its own chief minister's hoardings. No one could have thought of it."
Only 12 hours ahead of the event, the organiser bore brunt of public ire as there was a mess during the distribution of free kits carrying T-shirts, helmets, wristbands and backpacks to the participants. "We have come with a hope to get the T-shirts and other kits. But, we did not find the organisers. Before we reached the venues, all the T-shirts and other kits had vanished. Perhaps, it was meant only for the influential people," said a participant.
Later, a mob ransacked the registration counter at Kalinga Stadium. Security guards were mobilised to maintain law and order.
The event will be held in three categories 33km elite race (men category), 22km elite race (women category) and 11km rally green ride (general category). There will be free entries for all the categories. The event's route is Kalinga Stadium-Ram Mandir-Sishu Bhavan Chhak-Kalinga Stadium.
The BJD smells politics in it. "The Union petroleum minister failed to contain the rising price of petroleum products. Now, it is encouraging cycling to divert the issue," said BJD general secretary Bijay Nayak.
