BMC files plaint against advertiser

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday lodged a complaint at Bharatpur police station against a private advertiser who allegedly didn’t remove the iron frame of the hoarding whose collapse killed two persons on Tuesday evening, despite all advertisers being asked to dispose of such structures.“Stringent action will be taken against the advertiser. Our hoarding removal exercise is ongoing. More unused hoardings will be identified and removed soon. The city, being a cyclone-prone zone, often faces threats from hoardings, and utmost priority is being given to pull them down,” BMC commissioner Chanchal Rana said.BMC has identified 193 unclaimed hoardings that will be removed by engaging a private party with expertise to cut the iron beams and rods and sell them.“We have floated a tender to hire a private agency to remove all unclaimed hoardings by cutting them into small pieces and selling them. Based on the price quoted by the highest bidder, BMC will get its share,” said BMC deputy commissioner (revenue) Ajay Mohanty.In Dec last year, BMC gave an ultimatum to private advertisers to remove around 800 hoardings and warning them of withdrawing empanelment for not renewing their contracts after three years. Around 607 hoardings were claimed and their related advertisers came forward to renew their contracts. Empanelment of advertisement agencies with BMC expired on Dec 12, 2025.BMC officials said they communicated about the lapse of empanelment on Nov 15 last year, requesting submission of necessary documents for renewal. “No response was received from the advertisers until Dec-end, and their empanelment was not renewed,” Mohanty added.All hoardings, advertisement displays, and allied structures installed on private lands by around 26 agencies within the BMC limits were treated as unauthorised/illegal. Following action, 193 hoarding are left to be removed, as none were claimed.In Oct last year, as a precaution, BMC asked advertisers to remove around 100 rooftop hoardings located at vulnerable points. If the wind speed exceeds 80 kmph and there is heavy rain, hoardings are likely to be affected.