Many billboards and signs may have no measurable impact on road safety, but in some situations, signs and billboards can be a threat to road safety. So, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha recently, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari stated that as per section 116 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) or any other agency authorized by the Central Government may seek assistance from the authorities of the State Government for removal of unauthorized hoardings, advertisement and signage along the National Highways.
As for the New Delhi jurisdiction, the direction regarding removal of unauthorized advertisements devices, hoardings, signage and advertisements are contained in the Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy 2017 of the Municipal Bodies of Delhi, duly approved by the Supreme Court of India. Action is also taken under the provision of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property (DPDP) Act-2007. In this connection, a policy has been formulated and notified by the Department of Urban Development, GNCT of Delhi.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court of India has been monitoring the outdoor hoardings in the city since December 1997. The Apex Court had expressed its concern regarding the safety of road users because hoardings, if not regulated, could constitute a disturbance for traffic and lead to accidents. In addition, there is the question of aesthetics and the fact that cities should avoid visual clutter. The policy has been finalised after discussions with all stakeholders. The only objection, which continues is from Railways, which has not agreed to the revenue sharing provision.
The Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy 2017 was framed based upon a careful review of global studies on the safety of hoardings. As per the analysis, all hoardings are not hazardous, but, hoardings on roads, visible to traffic, are potential dangers to drivers. It is for this reason that the outdoor advertising policy has given careful and high consideration to issues of road safety. This requires the policy to consider the location, design, size or type of sign along the arterial routes, where the potential for conflicts with traffic safety is highest. While finalizing the policy, two studies were cited, such as the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi and the Kolkata based Centre for Advance Research on Transportation (CART).
The Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy document notes that there are a significant number of cities, which discourage the use of large hoarding within the city. Hoardings are preferred on highways or if these large billboards are allowed within the city limit, then these are restricted to business or already commercial districts and areas. In Delhi, the Urban Arts Commission, the agency mandated with overseeing issues connected to the city aesthetics has also made it clear that it wants to ensure against visual clutter.
The Delhi city policy for outdoor advertisements has been based on the emerging global practices as well as the need to maintain the character of the city. The policy is premised on the basis that advertisements are promoted primarily in parts of the city, which are commercial in nature: business, industrial and shopping districts and discouraged in residential areas and urban freeways. Reportedly, cities across the world are learning the need to balance city aesthetics with revenues that they earn through advertisements, often the hard way.
The Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy document has mentioned that Beijing, in its readiness for the Olympics had removed all hoarding within the city to sanitize the city’s image. Cranes were deployed to dismantle many of the 90-odd billboards lining the city roads. In many cities of the UK, local councils have removed hoardings, which they say leads to improving the visual environment and image. Reportedly, ‘promotion signs’ – hoarding which advertises products – can significantly add to the visual clutter in a locality and so are not encouraged. In some cities, the outdoor advertisement policy has been designed to discourage the proliferation of signs along major transport routes, including roadways and railways. The city of Sydney through its policy wants to reduce the number of large and freestanding billboard signs in the city.
