Editorial by the writer, published in Dawn on Sept. 19, 2005

Regulating billboards



STRONG winds in Karachi the other day caused a massive billboard on one of the city’s busiest roads to topple and fall on a parked car and several motorcycles. Mercifully, the car was empty or the consequences could have been more damaging. The incident however underlines the mushrooming billboard industry in the country’s largest city and is a strong case for greater regulation of this thriving sector of Karachi’s economy. According to a former city nazim, out of the 17,000 plus billboards, a mere 6,000 are legal while the rest are actually unauthorized. Considering that Karachi is Pakistan’s economic and commercial capital, the trade of buying and renting of billboards is big business. That perhaps explains why so many billboards are in fact illegal. A well-known local NGO involved in fighting the land mafia and those who illegally occupy public space and property has made the claim that these unauthorized billboards are protected by those who install them and that such elements are often working hand in glove with officials of the various town administrations.

So, one of the tasks for the new nazim of Karachi will be to ensure that all unauthorized billboards are removed. Second, all authorized signs should be properly secured by those who construct them and that in case of an accident, the proprietor should pay for any damage done. Those allegedly involved in facilitating illegal billboards — there cannot be so many without official connivance — should also be taken to task. In addition, the city administration and the cantonment boards under whose jurisdictions the billboards are located should also see to it that the interests of the motoring public and residents are fully protected by restricting the number of billboards at any major traffic intersection.