Daily Times

KARACHI: The District Municipal Corporation (DMC) East has removed only 70 billboards from Shahrah-e-Faisal and Karsaz Road in two months, Daily Times has learnt. Earlier, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed to remove all dangerous and hazardous billboards from the city. As per details, there were around 1,500 billboards, which were declared dangerous in various areas of the provincial capital. Sources said that Civil Aviation Authority, Karachi Port Trust, Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Steel Mills, Sindh Police, Cantonment Board Fasail, Cantonment Clifton, Cantonment Board Karachi have failed to removed billboards in their jurisdiction. They said that different district municipal corporations and several cantonment boards had issued permits to some banks and other companies to install billboards in their territories.

They said that relevant stakeholders had also agreed on removal of the billboards but implementation was yet to begin. Last month, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan had directed to remove illegal and hazardous bill boards and hoardings from city roads within a week to discourage haphazard growth of the billboards. He also directed to erect billboards outside the airport, containing basic information regarding metropolis and the province so as to apprise the people coming to the city, especially foreigners.