Chennai: After Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s orders to pull down all the hoardings in the Tamil Nadu’s capital city, the administration is getting its act together.
Outdoor advertisers are getting worked up on this decision of the CM to dismantle these 5,000 hoardings.
"Nearly one lakh families depend on the business that comes from the hoarding industry. This decision of the CM will make these people jobless," says AG Nayagam President of the Tamil Nadu Outdoor Advertising Association.
Aside from employment, huge amounts of money are at stake. On an average, each hoarding is leased out for about lakh-and-a-half rupees a month.
In addition to this the Government collects rupees three per square foot every month as display tax from this 100 crore-rupee industry.
Industry insiders say about 30 percent of Chennai's hoardings are illegal and if they are cleared there would be no need for a blanket ban.
"Hoardings definitely need regulation in the city, but I’m not sure taking the hoardings off is a solution to this. They must try and implement regulation so that it becomes a much more organised sector," says Satyanarayan, President, Media Direction, Media Service group of R K Swamy BBDO Pvt Ltd
However it is not the first time that a move to regulate hoardings has come up. Agencies say if hoardings go they will use options like radio, mobile vans or bus shelters.
An alternate option would be to use mobile hoardings like Delhi and Bangalore where the maximum size is restricted to 24 by 12 feet.
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