Berhampur: Taking a hard stance against private firms for fixing banners and posters atop trees with nails or wires, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has imposed fines on the advertisers.
The organisations which ignored the BMC directions are Green Trends, V-Mart, X-Gen, Shree Yoga Herbal and Diligent Institute of Management and Studies were fined up to Rs 2, 500, Rs 2000, Rs 500, Rs 500 and Rs 500 respectively.
Several green lovers and environmentalists have been demanding action against some firms who have affixed banners and posters on trees with nails or wires. The BMC has demarcated the five firms as examples for flouting the green norms.
With the help of government and private agencies, the civic body has taken up plantation as a drive. Some unscrupulous traders and coaching centre operators have found trees along the roads as convenient instruments of display to hang advertisements and hoardings. By using this, they wittingly or unwittingly kill these trees.
Trees spread across the city have banners and posters of coaching institutions, computer centres, nursing homes, malls, showrooms and other business houses. Traders often hammer about 20 nails into a tree trunk to fix an advertisement. The nails prove fatal for the trees. A chemical reaction takes place when rain water percolates into the trees through the nails and damages the pith of the trunk. The process of transportation of food and other substances from roots gets affected, causing its death.
The BMC has created specific paid slots for hoardings and advertisements. As fixing advertisements on trees costs nothing, trees are preferred over demarcated slots, alleged locals.
A civic body has launched a special drive – Mu Bi Banchibaku Chehen’ (I too want to live) – September 23, 2018. Through the campaign, 1746 nails have been extricated from the trees. Berhampur Sabuja Vahini has urged the BMC to take action against the traders and commercial educational centres.
In order to discourage people from using trees to put up advertisements, BMC and BDA have convened a coordination meeting attended by MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik, Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange, BMC commissioner Chakraborty Singh Rathore, BDA chairman Subash Maharana and other senior officers. The meeting resolved to take stringent action against those who nail advertisements on the trees.
The move to penalise the first offender up to Rs 500, Rs 1000 for the second offender and Rs 2000 for third offender was taken at the meeting.
PNN