Illegal hoardings removed in Kharar

The illegal sites were being sold to advertisers for an estimated ₹60,000 per month, because of which the MC was losing around ₹1 crore every year

About 25 illegal hoardings on National Highway-21 and eight flexi boards (for advertising) on unipoles were removed in a special drive by the Kharar municipal council (MC) on Monday.

A hoarding being brought down as part of a special drive by the Kharar municipal council. (HT Photo)

The drive, which began at 11 am and continued till 5 pm, was carried out by a team of six MC officials with support from the police.

Himanshu Jain, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Kharar, said the team would ensure that all hoardings were removed and not put up again.

MC would issue notices giving four days to owners to remove the unipoles, frame structures mounted atop a single steel pole or column, failing which these would be brought down later, warned Jain.

The illegal sites were being sold to advertisers for an estimated ₹60,000 per month, because of which, the MC, which was meant to get revenues from such advertising, was losing around ₹1 crore every year.

Unipole owners would be given four days to remove the unipoles as they had paid around ₹60,000 for one, said Gurmeet Singh, superintendent of MC Kharar.

MC allots tenders for 40 sites in Kharar every year, but in 2020 it contracted the work for ₹3.25 crore for nine years.