CDGK to put up 75 billboards on Shahrah-e-Faisal
KARACHI: Almost 80 percent of sites for billboards on Shahrah-e-Faisal have been sold by the Local Taxes Department (CDGK) even though this main artery was meant to be hoarding free.
The department arranged an auction at CDGK headquarters Civic Center last week for the 75 sites on both sides of Shahrah-e-Faisal from the airport to FTC. Only two sizes have been allowed for three years by the CDGK. The 20×10 feet billboard’s reserved price is Rs 240,000 and the 45×15 billboard costs Rs 810,000. But the department was able to sell the 20×10 feet sites between Rs 300,000 to Rs 400,000 and was even more successful with the 45×15 sites that went for more than one million rupees, an official said.
Assistant District Officer Nasim told Daily Times on Saturday that the new sites will be installed by the successful firms after the city nazim approves them and this may take a couple of months.
The CDGK went ahead with the auction, even though the authorities were supposed to cut down on the advertising on this route. When asked about this, an official, who did not want to be named, explained that as the Karachi Cantonment Board, Cantonment Board Faisal and other stakeholders had started to set up billboards in their limits on Shahrah-e-Faisal, the city government also took advantage and auctioned its sites.
One of the main reasons why the CDGK and authorities took a feeble stab at discouraging billboards was that almost 150 of these structures fell during the monsoon winds and rains. But, as the auction indicates there is a considerable financial fall out from this decision.
In addition to the auction of 44 new sites on Shahrah-e-Faisal from the airport to FTC and 31 on the other side from FTC to the airport, billboards have been set up on more than three dozen sites on private property. Some of them are on the rooftops and some have been set up within the boundary walls of residential buildings. ADO Nasim stressed, however, that all the sites have been approved by the Local Taxes Department which has also issued them safety certificates.
Even the president once remarked that Karachi city was being made ugly by the excessive billboards. But Shahra-e-Faisal is, according to one advertiser, a “prime” location for advertisers and companies who want maximum publicity. He said that it was up to the city government to maintain a uniform policy and ensure safety. There are about 125 advertisement firms registered with the city government.
Source: Daily Times
Date:11/25/2007
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