Reflections...

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
(Investigative report on illegal hoardings of advertisements in Trivadum city. Report prepared by Surabhi Vasundhara & Anupriya Raj)



(Application form for placing advertisements in Trivandrum city, its stated that no publicity materials will be allowed between Kowdiar & Eastfort)



(Publicity materials in a building opposite to Trivandrum corporation office, the board is illegally placed)

(Flex boards obstructing the footpath at Statue,MG road , Trivandrum)

(Board in front of the secrateriate main gate, you can see a women trying to walk through the footpath)

(Publicity materials at MG road, Statue , Trivandrum. The boards are blocking the traffice lights also)

Report....

Trivandrum is the capital of Kerala and the headquarters of the District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the "Evergreen city of India", the city is characterized by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills. With almost 800,000 inhabitants as per census, it is the largest and most populous city in Kerala. The corporation was divided in to 24 wards covering an area of 30.66 km² in 1940. On 12/11/2009 six more places around Trivandrum is included in the corporation area, now there are 86 wards. The city corporation is ruled by the council of 86 members, headed by the Mayor. The law and order of the city is handled by the City Police Commissioner.There are clear guidelines for the people, shops and political party’s to place advertisements in and around Trivandrum city; there are laws to charge fine and to arrest all those, who violate the laws of the corporation in placing the advertisements without the prior permission. Placing advertisements in city limits is one of the main income of the Trivanrdum Corporation. The Corporation has already collected Rs.31.318 lakh as advertisement tax till February 25, against a total collection of Rs.21.21 lakh last year.Senior officials say the figure is expected to go up to Rs.45 lakh by the end of the fiscal year.Officials attributed the enhanced collection to a government order issued on January 17, revising the tax rate within the city limits, with effect from April 2008. Last month, Mayor C. Jayan Babu had convened a meeting of representatives of political parties, service organisations and trade unions regarding the installation of publicity materials in roads & parks. As per the agreement arrived at in the meeting, the organisations were given time to remove hoardings, notices, banners, arches and advertisement boards erected by them in public places .Pasting of notices and other publicity materials on statues was strictly banned.Although the Corporation has declared the East Fort-Kowdiar stretch as a litter-free zone (EVIDENCE ATTACHED) avoiding all means of advertisement to keep the city clean and beautiful. We went to the corporation department to collect the application form for placing the advertisement, while coming out of the office, it seems there are lot of advertisements in the front of the office itself, (PHOTO EVIDENCE ATTACHED) its mentioned as per rules there should be only one address board in each building, to place an another the permission is needed, for that the payment has to made as per rules. All publicity materials must be taken permission, and a seal from the corporation has to placed, for easy identification of the permitted one. We dint see any corporation seal on any posters or flex banners (PHOTO EVIDENCE ATTACHED).We found that the political parties placing their flex boards without any manner, these advertisements really take the major part of foot path, (PHOTO EVIDENCE ATTACHED) even cover the traffic signals(PHOTO EVIDENCE ATTACHED). Banks are also using their advertisements without any permission (PHOTO EVIDENCE ATTACHED). Really all may be aware of this, but if they neglect the rule that there is a need for permission to place the advertisements, the corporation can take away, and can be fined. Do the officials are forced to ignore this or are they supporting the crime.Anyway this will not do good in either way .

Note: Pl enlarge the photos & watch very closely