Despite the tall claims of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) of making the city hoarding-free and reducing “visual pollution”, the festive season saw the civic sell advertising rights to a single advertising agency.

Consequently, the indiscriminate use of hoardings along the major thoroughfares has sent the city’s traffic management in a tizzy.

“We have asked the civic authorities to keep the road sides free from hoardings so that drivers can have a clear view of road directions and traffic signals. During pujas, however, we found the roadsides blocked with huge hoardings. Several meetings held with the KMC were of no avail,” said Dilip Banerjee, deputy commissioner of traffic police.

He added: “We received several complaints that traffic signals have been covered by hoardings at major crossings, including Moulali, Park Circus, Gariahat and Shyambazzar. Even as we asked the KMC to remove the hoardings from these areas, at some places, the hoardings still stand. We are looking into the matter.”

The authorisation granted to a single agency has led to an increased frenzy in setting up of temporary hoarding and banners in the city. According to a senior civic official, the agency has paid the civic body Rs 60 lakh to acquire advertising rights for setting up hoardings in the city during September and October. The agency will also collect revenue on behalf of the civic body from other companies who put up billboards near pandals in the city. Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said, “We have asked the agency specifically not to cover traffic signals and traffic directions. We have to check how and why the hoardings were pegged in a disorganised way. We are looking into the matter.”

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