Click to play videoChennai: It’s known as the city of hoardings. But Chennai may soon be stripped of its title, literally so.
The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday ordered immediate removal of all hoardings in the state, much to the displeasure of many.
"In the hoarding industry, nearly one lakh families depend on this business, so definitely one lakh families will be thrown out of their jobs,” says President Tamil Nadu Outdoor Advertising Association, AG Nayagam.
The hoarding industry is one of Chennai’s biggest with each hoarding fetching close to Rs 18 lakh every year. Which means the nearly 5,000 hoardings in the city generate around Rs 900 crore a year, while the government collects Rs three per square feet as display tax
But as it happens, several hoardings in the city are illegal and the administration has been trying to regularise them for quite a while now.
“Hoardings definitely need regulation in the city, but I am not sure taking them out is a solution for this. They must try and implement regulation so that it becomes a much more organised sector," says President, Media Direction, Satyanarayan.
A case related to hoardings is pending in the Supreme Court, which has issued a stay order. Legal experts say the state government may have actually jumped the gun by banning hoardings.
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