Team Herald
Margao: Neither the local bodies nor the State authorities seem to be interested in regulating the Billboards along the highway. Between Honda Nuvem Church and Dovondem chapel, there are around 30 billboards all of which do not have any registration number. Some are within 15 meters of the centre line of the highway whereas others are in bad shape with metal sheets loosely hanging.
Besides these violations, another issue is that of flex sheets of previous advertisements abandoned in the paddy below the billboards. The issue has been raised several times in the past but the local bodies do not seem to be interested in enforcing the law and prevent plastic pollution of the paddy fields.
Herald spoke to farmers who claim they are helpless since no one listens to them. The Nuvem panchayat claims that they collect tax for the hoardings. However, when asked whether they collect tax from the hoardings which have been abandoned, the staff stated that they may not have paid their dues.
Herald also contacted the PWD Division XIV who informed that they can only take action if the hoardings are installed in their Right of Way which in the case of Nuvem is 15 meters from the center line. However, it is clear that they have not acted since two of the billboards north of Dovondem are within that distance.
Billboards are a good source of revenue for the village since each billboard advertisement cost anywhere from Rs 20000 to Rs 50000 and above per month. However, many panchayats fail to regulate the billboards in terms of enforcing the rule to display permission/licence number or collect garbage tax for the plastic waste generated by these billboards everytime they change the flex advertisement.
