The menace of hoardings

The invention of lithography at the end of the 18th century led to the beginning of the poster and billboard era. It got formalised over a century later, in a Paris exposition, with 24-sheet billboards. 

The format was quickly adopted for various types of advertising, especially for circuses, travelling shows and movies. But in less than half a century, its adverse effects were quite evident and in the US, its ban and control came into existence.

There are norms and ethical codes that govern the size, type, placement and contents of bill boards in most developed countries. For example, tobacco ads are banned. Billboard locations are kept away from cross roads for safety. Their sizes and placement are governed by urban design or arts commissions. They get changed from papers to flex for the environment's sake.

Ironically for a country like India, where demand outstrips supply and advertisement remains redundant, cities seem to be getting inundated with these at present. A lack of policy, opening of markets, consumerism and the greed for quick and easy money have all prompted public bodies as well as private premises to cash in on their road side locations, by mounting oversized bill boards.

Typical rates for renting a hoarding of ten feet by twenty feet in Ahmedabad range between Rs8,000 to Rs15,000 per month. Kolkata is perhaps the costliest, and in smaller urban centres, its rates are as low as one-tenth. Not to mention rates for political hoardings, which are also one-tenth. Mumbai Municipal Corporation's income from hoardings is about hundred crores.

The point then is, are these billboards about paying somebody's bills? The fundamental question is why do they display what they display? Quality of life of no citizen would be any lesser for not seeing political or commercial messages.

Ironically for a state like Tamil Nadu, known for larger than life cutouts and hoardings of political and film figures, it was one of the first to file a litigation against the oversized, unplanned and illegal hoardings. After the Supreme Court ruling in their favour, they even implemented their demolition practically overnight. 
Hoardings hide buildings and their architectural nuances.

They change the interface value of buildings with the street by obstructing the view. They hide trees and landscaping elements, and are safety hazards as they are precariously mounted on roof tops or building facades not designed for such elements. They pose a safety risk as well, as many protrude on sidewalks. Billboards have also caused accidents at busy junctions by
distracting travelers.

Billboards are morally questionable as well, as they promote consumerist values in a resource-starved country. They are energy guzzler as well, as a typical singular hoarding these days gets lit through nearly hundreds of fluorescent tubes for each one of them.

One single hoarding with so many tubes burning for twelve hours of the night, can illuminate nearly four hundred homes for three hours.  Why can't corporate houses pride in sponsoring information worthy of its citizens?  Why can't messages of social and heritage value be taken up for display on regulated boards? 'Ahmedabad completing 600' could be one.