Selective enforcement: political posters go unchecked, commoners pay the price
The Hindu
On Sunday, a large circular flexi poster, standing unsupported close to Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao’s camp office in Begumpet, fell on an unsuspecting two-wheeler rider.
On Sunday, a large circular flexi poster, standing unsupported close to Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao’s camp office in Begumpet, fell on an unsuspecting two-wheeler rider.
The victim suffered bleeding injuries on his face, as shown by video clips shot at the spot and circulated on social media. Despite being tagged in several posts, neither the Enforcement, Vigilance & Disaster Management wing nor the Central Enforcement Cell (CEC) of the GHMC responded.
A day later, a Twitter user tagged the CEC alerting them about a diminutive board tied to a tree in Narayanguda, advertising about a boys’ hostel. Within a couple of hours, the CEC tweeted back an image of a challan for ₹5,000 imposed on the violator for unauthorised erection of banners and cutouts.
On the same day, the CEC also imposed challans worth ₹10,000 for posters on Metro Rail pillar in Ameerpet advertising about employment opportunities.
One may scroll and scroll till the end of the CEC’s Twitter feed, but not find a single challan issued for flexi posters, cutouts, banners and hoardings tied in thousands by the political parties and individual politicians every time an event takes place in the city. Such penalties seem exclusively for commoners!
This is in stark contrast to the zeal displayed by GHMC through its EV&DM wing and the CEC till a year ago, when every complaint on social media about flexi posters/banners/ cutouts would be responded to with a challan generated in the name of either the political party or the individual politician who violated the ban.
A blanket ban was in force by GHMC on hoardings, flexis, posters, banners, cutouts and any other publicity material that defaced the city, following High Court orders in 2015.
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