E-Paper
No litter in name of canvassing
EQUIPPED WITH the new DM order, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation has planned to impose heavy penalty and initiate legal action against the contestants in civic polls found guilty of defacing walls for their election campaign. The order applies to all government buildings, historical monuments, crossings and roads. In case of private buildings, permission of the owner is mandatory for any sort of wall writing. Besides penalising the guilty, the LMC will also put off the plastic buntings on busy crossings of the city.
LMC to fine poll contestants who deface walls, buildings
EQUIPPED WITH the new DM order, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation has planned to impose heavy penalty and initiate legal action against the contestants in civic polls found guilty of defacing walls for their election campaign.
The order applies to all government buildings, historical monuments, crossings and roads. In case of private buildings, permission of the owner is mandatory for any sort of wall writing.
Besides penalising the guilty, the LMC will also put off the plastic buntings on busy crossings of the city.
Municipal commissioner Ram Bodh Maurya said, “We have been directed by the administration to fine the guilty and lodge an FIR against candidates who repeat the offence.”
He said, “It’s the duty of the municipal corporation to keep the city neat and clean and the candidates aspiring to be corporators must understand the importance of keeping the city in a good condition.
It would be their responsibility in future to protect the city from such things if they are elected by the public.”
In the past, LMC has fined a number of political parties for putting up plastic buntings on busy crossings in Hazratganj and Hussainganj, but none of them ever paid the fine.
Leader of opposition in LMC house and present city president of Samajwadi Party Mujeeb-Ur- Rehman Babloo welcomed the move and said, “We would support the LMC in any such drive as it’s our duty keep the city clean.”
People knowingly or unknowingly keep damaging the rich cultural heritage of the city by writing on the walls and pasting posters and banners on the statues, said an official of the Archaeological Survey of India.
He added, these people not only deface walls of historical buildings but are also responsible for irreparable damage to the monuments.
Additional municipal commissioner AC Sinha said , “Presently, LMC has the power to impose the maximum fine of Rs 500. According the law, the guilty is liable for one month imprisonment for not paying the fine but till date no one has been imprisoned for defacing the historical monument or government building.”
LMC officials feel it’s also the duty of residents to react against damage to public property. While local police is directed to stop the defacing of public property such as statues and walls of historical buildings like Vidhan Bhavan or Imambara, even putting up posters and banners without permission is not allowed on private buildings during the elections.
