Bhubaneswar: Commuters continue to risk their lives due to unregulated installation of advertisements along the roads and on the medians as well.

The real culprits are not the big billboards but the smaller ones that are hung around electric poles along roads and on medians too. These banners and small hoardings dot the city and its main arterial roads including Janpath, Rajpath and Sachivalaya Marg.

The installation of such hoardings sometimes breaks the line of view of a rider and also distracts divers exposing them to the risk of accidents.

"The banners are placed right in the middle of the road, which often distracts us. There is not one but two to three advertisements hanging from a single electric. This exposes us to grave risk," said Debesh Acharya, a motorist on Janpath.

Besides commercial advertisements, political hoardings, which appear almost at frequent intervals during some party events or visits of leaders, make things worst.

"Majority of the banners on the electric poles remain in uniformity, which is not a big problem, but the political hoardings, which appears once in a while, is very disturbing," said Nityanand Hota, a resident of Kharavela Nagar.

Minor accidents are frequent on the Janpath or at the Master Canteen Square roundabout where such hoardings are most visible.

"The Master Canteen Square roundabout was always risky for motorists and the installation of the hoardings have made it even more dangerous. Minor accidents often happen here," said Partha Jena, a shopkeeper.

Town planners blame the absence of a mechanism to regulate such small roadside hoardings. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation works according to the Odisha Outdoor Advertisement and Hoarding Policy, 2015, which regulates installation of large rooftop billboards.

According to the policy, urban local bodies are supposed to ensure that road safety is kept in mind while allowing the installation of such hoardings.

"Such advertisements, mainly the ones put up by political parties, not only threatens road safety, but also ruins the beauty of the city's skyline. Being smart city, it is not a smart move of the government," said Jayant Mishra, a resident of Unit III.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they were complying with all rules and committed to ensure the safety of the road users.

"We have removed large hoardings from Raj Mahal Square and a few other places. These billboards were a major distraction for road users. We are soon going to come up with a mechanism to regulate smaller banners," Jena said.