The law of defacement
of public property
Whoever defaces any property in public
view by writing or marking it with ink, chalk, paint or any other material
except for the purpose of indicating the name and address of the owner or
occupier of such property, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to one year
Goa, due to its rich culture and heritage
is endowed with some beautiful architecture. Unfortunately, despite the
existence of the law ‘Defacement of Public Property’, the walls of shops and
homes and the elevated space above is littered with banners, posters and
signboards of products and places, thereby losing its unique heritage charm.
This also includes advertising on banners
and hoardings, which are not allowed to be placed on any public property
without prior permission.
Along with upholding the aesthetic and
cultural essence of the place, in a state with a booming tourism industry, the
authorities in particular and society in general need to be responsible in
maintaining the visual of the surroundings. Some goan citizens are so upset
that one of them said “If even after this, the concerned government departments
sadly fail to take the necessary action and turn a blind eye and a deaf ear, I
might have to approach the High Court with a PIL”
Nandan Kuchadkar, Chairman, Kudchadkar
Group of Concerns, states, “What is Goa
doing to its land? It is shameful to see houses, shops, shutters and walls
painted with advertisements of various companies. Firstly, these include spirit
labels and it is illegal to advertise alcohol. Also, there are many MLAs who
put up posters of festive greetings and never remove them once the festival is
over. Other events happening in Goa also keep their posters hanging for days
after the events are over. Who is looking after the state? The filth keeps
lying around the way it is, by the roadside or on poles, beach umbrellas,
trees, etc. All the streets and walls are covered with brand advertisements!
Goa has turned into a ‘branding state’. When a problem arises, there are
solutions too; the tourism department should put up notices. There is already a
law and people could face serious charges for such illegal advertisements.”
Trusha Panvelkar is a woman who loves and strives to keep
Goa clean. In one of her latest posts on Facebook, she
expressed her views on how Goa is being degraded due to the illegal
advertising. She described street advertising as the broad terminology used for
advertisements that are located on billboards, bus benches or the sides of
transport. She states, “Visual pollution is an aesthetic issue referring to
unattractive visual elements of a landscape, or anything that a person doesn’t
feel comfortable to look at for example a billboard or a plastic flex. Firstly,
businesses don’t really need billboards to boost sales. Secondly, digital
billboards are a hazard to drivers and lastly, finally they clutter and ruin the
environment. The negative side might try to tell you that by removing these
billboards, businesses would suffer greatly, but this is incorrect in reality.
“The government has already made rules about us not being able
to use our mobile phones or pods whilst driving to help us focus on the road,
but what do you do when the road becomes a distraction in itself? No matter how
hard you try, you cannot help but be distracted by this flashing light. So,
what I am trying to say is that billboards or banners or plastic flex hung on
trees or so are distractions.
Buildings especially ones that are heritage listed or of
particular prominence deserve to be seen by the public and not cluttered with
propaganda.
Many road users believe billboards of advertisements are a form
of visual pollution and they should be banned in cities, for many reasons.
Billboards of advertisements are hazardous to drivers and are causing more
accidents. They are an eyesore and if not heavily restricted, they are erected
all over the town, many illegally.
The role of District Collectors and Deputy Collectors is
importantand their absolute negligence on this issue needs to be questioned
Kabir Pinto Makhija, Ex-CCP Deputy Mayor, opines, “Advertisements, banners and
hoardings are placed on walls to attract people’s attention but end up defacing
the city. Tree trunks and branches are damaged when advertising boards are
nailed to them. I feel the CCP should clamp down strongly on unauthorised
advertising by imposing heavy fines on the violators.”
“It is absolutely wrong. Trees cannot be used for advertising
brands on posters and boards. Advertisements have to be regulated by local
body. They should have an enforcement cell to remove such illegal activities,”
states Sanjiv Gadkar,
Director of Tourism.
But then, Mr Gadkar should also state if the Tourism Department,
which is a stakeholder in keeping beautiful has raised this even once in any
forum and if so the response he has received
Adv. Kaushal Shetye, Civil and Criminal
lawyer at Mapusa Court, informs, “Boards/
hoardings are a good medium to reach a wide audience. They aid publicity
thereby increasing the job opportunities for the youth and fresh entrepreneurs
who are not able to invest a lot of capital in marketing their products. But
there are some who use the boards/ hoardings for their personal use without
taking any permission from an authority. There’s a procedure that has to be
followed for legal advertising.
– An application of the trade license to the particular
municipality or Panchayat has to be submitted along with property documents,
lease agreement and NOC of the owner.
Thereafter, an applicant for any board for advertisement has to
take permission from the Municipality or the village Panchayat of that
particular area. An NOC will be provided from the owner. The application will
be decided within seven days. However, the application is invalid for highway,
no hoarding zones and bus stands.”
It is quite obvious that each of the above exit only on paper.
The photographs accompanying this story give you the real “picture”.
(
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