Trichy officials fail to crackdown on flex banners

Trichy: A lack of coordination among stakeholders including departments of Trichy corporation and city police has failed to stop flex banners from occupying vulnerable spots on roads.

Political banners and massive hoardings for private events were set up near road junctions and steep turns in school zones, hindering the visibility of two-wheelers taking turns and putting them in danger.“Banners obstruct the view of vehicles approaching the road junctions. We had to slow down and check before entering the junction. School zones are not spared either. Stakeholders should remove such banners before any fatal accidents happen,” S Ravikumar, a resident of SBI Officers’ Colony, said.Residents said advertisers to catch the attention of road users are placing banners on the street corners. Such banners obstruct the view of motorists and pedestrians approaching the main road from residential streets. Cantonment, Thillai Nagar, Karumandapam, and Vayalur Road are the worst affected.Corporation sources said the engineering department must act against such violations by involving workers provided by the sanitary department.

However, both departments are not coordinating. “Several junior engineers (JE) were appointed in recent months, compared to available sanitary department officers. JEs are not proactively checking for the presence of banners in public spots,” a sanitary department official said.City police, who could identify banners in the accident-prone areas and inform the civic body, are keeping silent too. With strong winds in the city during the daytime, residents expressed fears over wobbling banners close to carriageways.A senior corporation official said, “We will check and remove the banners. Penalties will be levied on offenders.”