Fresh drive against illegal hoardings in Patna

The survey, covering the stretch from Digha to Patna City, counted a total of 1,092 hoardings — just 243 of them legal or government-approved

The Patna municipal corporation (PMC) has kicked off yet another major drive to clear the city’s skyline of unauthorised advertising billboards, with deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha — who also holds the urban development portfolio — directing officials to pull down 849 illegal hoardings identified in a recent survey.

Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha announced the drive. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

The survey, covering the stretch from Digha to Patna City, counted a total of 1,092 hoardings — just 243 of them legal or government-approved. The rest, officials say, were put up without any permission, often by networks that have turned this into a profitable, underground business.

In a review meeting, Sinha didn’t mince words. He ordered the PMC and other agencies to act fast, warning that unauthorised structures would come down at all cost. He also linked the issue to illegal parking operations, calling both parts of the same racket. The City SP echoed that sentiment, labelling it outright as “mafia-driven.”

The numbers underline why the state is pushing hard this time. Without a proper advertisement policy in place for the last 14 years, illegal hoardings have been draining the state exchequer heavily. Deputy CM Sinha told Hindustan Times that the annual revenue loss stands at ₹125- ₹150 crore — money that could have funded civic projects but has instead gone into private hands.

This isn’t Patna’s first rodeo with the hoarding problem. The city has seen removal campaigns come and go for over a decade, often triggered by public outcry or court orders, only for the billboards to creep back up.

Back in 2011 and 2012, the civic body went after illegal structures after the Patna high court stepped in. More drives followed in 2019 and again in 2024. Each time, hundreds were dismantled, fines issued, and promises made to bring order. But weak follow-up and the lack of a clear policy let the cycle repeat.

The issue has sparked plenty of litigation over the years. Residents have filed public interest petitions complaining about eyesore billboards blocking views and distracting drivers. Safety fears have added fuel — shoddily built hoardings have collapsed in storms elsewhere in the country, and Patna isn’t immune.

Last year, the Supreme Court weighed in on a related dispute, ruling that the “royalty” fees charged by municipal bodies like the PMC for legal advertisements aren’t a tax but a legitimate charge. That verdict gave corporations more muscle to regulate and earn from outdoor ads properly.

Yet enforcement has always been the weak link. Many blame vested interests and alleged nexus between some officials and ad agencies for why illegal hoardings keep resurfacing.

With Sinha now personally overseeing the operation, teams are already out mapping sites and serving notices. If owners don’t remove the structures themselves, machinery will roll in soon.

For long-suffering Patnaites, who have watched their city turn into a patchwork of oversized ads, this drive offers hope — if the government finally plugs the policy gap and keeps the pressure on.