Arterial Roads To Be Free Of Wall Posters

Arterial roads Anna Salai, Kamarajar Salai and E.V.R. Periyar Salai will soon be free of graffiti and posters, the Chennai Corporation announced on Thursday. The proposed ban, part of measures to beautify the city, was decided at the Corporation Council meeting.

The civic body would hold discussions with the State government and the Police department to work out the modalities. "These are long and important roads and posters and paintings on the sides are an eyesore," said Mayor M. Subramanian, adding that the proposal also figured in the Corporation Budget.

On whether fines would be imposed on those putting up the movie posters, he said it would not be possible as only labourers were involved in pasting them. "We had a similar programme along with the police sometime ago but it was discontinued. We used to erase wall writings and remove posters," he said.

The Corporation would also take steps to ban distribution of pamphlets.

"Many private companies employ people to distribute handbills at important locations such as railway stations, bus termini and the beach. But often people to whom the bills are given just throw them on the road. To avoid such waste generation, we want to ban handbills," he added. A resolution to beautify the area between 5th Avenue and 7th Avenue at Besant Nagar as part of the Elliots Beach beautification project, was passed.

June 21, 2008