Hazardous hoardings deck rooftops despite ban

Large billboards of popular consumer products on the Dhaka University campus seem to outshine the grandeur of famous sculpture like Aparajeyo Bangla.Photo: STAR

Rooftop billboards that are banned by the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) continue to be installed on building tops, causing injuries and fatalities to residents of the capital during even gusty winds.
Besides that, other billboards set up on roadsides are built without conforming to DCC safety requirements and are equally hazardous, said DCC officials.
These haphazard hoardings, erected ignoring the aesthetics of the city, are turning into eyesores and depriving the city dwellers of a clear view of the sky and the adjacent landscape, said a number of city residents.
DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka said the DCC cannot take any action against owners of the illegal hoardings as court order is pending on the matter. "Until the court settles the issue, we have nothing to do in this regard."
"I have asked the officials concerned to follow up on the proceedings and take necessary steps," the mayor added.
Out of a total 5,000 billboards set up in Dhaka city under the jurisdiction of DCC, at least 2,000 are on building tops, sources said.
According to DCC rules, the DCC alone is responsible for the authorisation and maintenance of billboards. Though the DCC used to allow and approve rooftop billboards, earlier this year it had imposed a ban on such billboards.
Action against illegal hoardings ground to a halt after the billboard owners in the city filed two writ petitions -- one against the DCC and the other against Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) -- against the demolition or removal of their billboards, added the sources.
Commander Masudur Rahman Chowdhury, DCC Chief Conservancy Officer (CCO), said, "We are making preparation to demolish the illegal roadside billboards. However, even though these are illegal, we cannot remove the ones on rooftops due to the court order. Besides, we do not collect any tax from those."
Rajuk should be held liable for the billboards installed on building tops, he said adding, "The rooftop billboards are set up violating the building designs approved by Rajuk. Therefore, Rajuk should go for immediate action against these [violations]."
Although Rajuk recently sent letters to Outdoor Advertisement Owners' Association (OAOA) to remove the billboards set up on rooftops, Rajuk Magistrate ASM Emdadud Dastagir said, "I'm not aware of anything in this regard."
Commander Masud said, "The DCC previously did not have any data on rooftop or roadside billboards, but now we have prepared a list."
Haji Mohammad Rashed, secretary general of OAOA and owner of Century Art Publicity, however, said, "The DCC has all the information and data regarding the billboards and signboards. It's quite impossible to install any billboard or signboard without their permission."
"The DCC does not prepare any official list of billboards as its officials concerned make money out of unauthorised billboard owners by letting them dodge DCC taxes," alleged the OAOA leader.
"We are ready to pay the tax on rooftop billboards. But the unscrupulous officials and employees of DCC do not want the DCC rules be followed because they prefer under-the-table dealings," he added.
Iftekhar Ahmed, an official at DCC Beautification Cell and in charge of collecting billboard data, said 461 billboards have been installed in Gulshan area in the city under Zone 9 of DCC and among them 402 are owned by different individuals while most of the remaining ones are owned by various organisations.
"We are preparing the list of all billboards -- authorised and unauthorised. We have already completed the list of the billboards set up in Zone 9. To collect data of all the billboards across the city, it will take at least a few more days," he added.
The billboards are owned by different individuals and private or self-governed organisations including Bangladesh Railway and Roads and Highways Department, Iftekhar said.
The CCO of the DCC said the owners of the roadside billboards do not comply with DCC rules while setting up the billboards.
"Since we have imposed a ban on rooftop billboards, we do not collect any tax from their owners either," Commander Masud said.
According to DCC rules, it is illegal to set up billboards blocking the view of hospitals, government offices, educational institutions, religious and historical establishments.
Size of a billboard cannot exceed 13 square feet and it cannot be built within 10 feet or 3 metres from the edge of a road. Neither can a billboard be built in such a way as to create obstacle to traffic movement at road turns or intersections. Furthermore, no billboard is to be erected within 53 metres of a bridge, railway level crossing or intersection.
Besides the regulations mentioned, there are a few other regulations that need to be followed to get the approval of DCC for setting up a billboard in the city.
The city dwellers and experts however believe that most of the billboards in the city are in violation of the DCC rules.
Though wrongly designed, flimsy and poorly structured billboards installed on almost every available space in the city have been wreaking havoc in the city during the weakest storm every year by falling over and causing injuries and even fatalities, DCC official Iftekhar Ahmed said, "We heard about such accidents, but we have no data on this."
Over the accusation of billboards being installed flouting the DCC rules, the OAOA secretary general said, "All the installed billboards have been approved by the DCC."