SC orders KMC, cantonment boards to remove all billboards immediately

Karachi
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and other civic agencies to remove all billboards and hoardings installed on green belts and footpaths in the city immediately and submit a report about the progress within four weeks.
Hearing the matter regarding illegal sign boards and hoardings in the city, the apex court’s two-member bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali expressed its dissatisfaction over the reports submitted by cantonment boards.
The court observed that hoardings and billboards measuring up to 20-by-60 feet had been erected by encroaching upon footpaths and roads, causing permanent danger to the pedestrian public and vehicles plying on roads.
The illegal billboards not only posed a threat to the lives of commuters, but also defaced the beauty of the city.
The bench directed the KMC and cantonment boards to remove all billboards and hoardings without waiting for court orders, while observing that proceedings would be initiated against the heads of civic agencies and land-owning departments if this order was not complied with in letter and spirit.
Faisal Cantonment Board in its report submitted to the court stated that 24 illegal billboards had been removed from Rashid Minhas Road and Askari areas. The report further stated that 31 signboards were installed at lands owned by the Pakistan Navy, 33 on land owned by the Civil Aviation Authority, 26 on Station Headquarters, two on area under the jurisdiction of Pakistan Air Force and one on the land of Pakistan Railways.
The bench while expressing its dissatisfaction over this information, directed the authorities concerned to remove the billboards and hoardings from roads, footpaths and greenbelts and submit another report within four weeks.
It is pertinent to mention that the SC had observed that permission for installation of heavy billboards and hoardings could not be approved by land-owning or civic agencies of the city on grounds that fundamental rights of the citizens were violated.
The KMC submitted in its report that hoardings were allowed through public auction for streets and overhead bridges and flyovers. It stated that there were 17 civil and other land-owning agencies which issued permissions for the installation of hoardings.
According to the report, the Karachi Cantonment Board, Clifton Cantonment Board, Faisal Cantonment Board, Pakistan Railways, Station Headquarters, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Rangers, Malir Cantonment Board, Civil Aviation Authority, National Highway Authority, Defence Housing Authority, Karachi Port Trust, SITE Association, Korangi Cantonment Board, Pakistan Coast Guards, Police and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board issued the permissions for installing hoardings and sign boards.
Oil tankers
The SC also directed the DIG Traffic and provincial transport authorities to submit a report regarding the shifting of oil tankers from Shireen Jinnah Colony to the newly-built Zulfiqarabad oil tankers terminal.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Shugafta Bibi, a resident of Clifton Block 1, who pleaded to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to order shifting away of the oil tankers’ terminal from her locality. The woman had initially sent a letter to the CJP, which was later converted it into a constitutional petition. The court had directed the traffic DIG and concerned authorities to ensure shifting of the oil tankers from Shireen Jinnah colony to the Zulfiqarabad oil tanker terminal.