Putting 2,500 lives at risk for revenue?

Karachi: Saeed Hussain, a parent of two children studying at the Aisha Bawany Academy located on Sharea Faisal, is worried because of the large advertisement boards set up two years ago along the road - portions of which are inside the school’s premises.

As nine people were killed because of falling billboards in 2007, Hussain and other parents had resisted the move.

 “At that time, we had even asked the Karachi Cantonment Board officials to not allow the setting up of these billboards as they put the children’s lives at risk but were unable to stop the powerful billboard mafia,” Hussain, while waiting for his children outside the school, told The News. Around 2,500 students study at the school.

On March 11, the Supreme Court had ordered the authorities concerned to remove illegal billboards from the footpaths of the city in a month.

The court verdict read, “Protection of human life is above all and there is no justification for installation of huge size billboards on the footpaths of the city. The court had directed the land control authorities to implement the clauses of the by-laws on the designs and sizes of billboards and their support base to ensure safety.  

On March 19, Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan, in a meeting, too had directed the removal of illegal and hazardous billboards from the city’s roads within a week.

Karachi station commander Brig Zaheer, administrator Roshan Ali Shaikh, commissioner Syed Asif Hyder Shah, the deputy commissioners of South and East, the administrators of Karachi South and East and officers of various cantonment boards had attended that meeting.

However, despite the clear directives of the apex court and governor, the authorities did not remove the illegal and hazardous billboards.

They only removed sheets and panaflex banners from billboards in some parts of the city.

The business of advertising hoardings is a lucrative one for the land control authorities. They rent out the spaces in their respective jurisdictions for certain periods ranging from one to three years. There are over 3,000 billboards covering the extensive landscape of Karachi.

A report filed by the Karachi Municipal Corporation in the Supreme Court on the issue in February 2015 stated that there were 17 civil and other land-owning agencies that issued permissions for hoardings on footpaths, overhead bridges and flyovers through public auctions.

These agencies include the Karachi Cantonment Board, the Clifton Cantonment Board, The Faisal Cantonment Board, the Pakistan Railways, the Station Headquarters, the Pakistan Navy, the Pakistan Rangers, the Malir Cantonment Board, the Civil Aviation Authority, the National Highway Authority, the Defence Housing Authority, the Karachi Port Trust, the SITE Association, the Korangi Cantonment Board, the Pakistan Coast Guards, the Sindh police and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.

Zahid Farooq, an official at the Urban Resource Centre, a Karachi-based independent civil rights body, said large billboards were hazardous during strong winds and had claimed lives in the past.

Around 104 billboards had fallen in different parts of the city during June 2007’s torrential rains, killing nine people.   

“Huge billboards may collapse because of strong winds and pose a threat to houses, pedestrians and motorists,” Farooq told The News.  “Most of these billboards are not properly fixed on the ground. Some boards have holes in them to let wind pass through.”

The mushroom growth of billboards also diverts all concentrations of motorists from driving to advertisements, leading to a definite risk of road accidents, he maintained.  

Civic rights activists also allege that the advertising companies are involved in tree-cutting to increase the visibility of billboards.

There are over 100 billboards from Gora Qabristan to Hotel Mehran, including at Aisha Bawany Academy, the area that falls under the jurisdiction of the Karachi Cantonment Board.    Rana Manzoor Ahmed Khan, the CEO of the Karachi Cantonment Board, said all land control authorities were working to chalk out a uniform policy on the removal of dangerous billboards from their respective areas.

 “In compliance with the Supreme Court’s order, we have been planning how to implement the clauses of the by-laws on the size and weight of billboards and their installation on footpaths or greenbelts,” he told The News.

Fareed Ahmed, an official of the Aisha Bawany Academy’s administration, said the Karachi Cantonment Board had sought the school’s permission for setting up the billboards. “The contract renews every year. The structure is approved by engineers and all requirements have been met,” he added. 

“The money received by the school for the billboards goes to the Aisha Bawany Trust. It is then used to educate children whose parent can’t afford fees."