Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials slapped fines running into lakhs of rupees on TRS and BJP for putting up banners, posters, and signboards without permission during the past two days, GHMC sources said on Sunday. The civic body issued challans to the extent of Rs 20 lakh to BJP while it levied fines up to Rs 3 lakh on TRS.
The amount for both parties is likely to up if the unauthorized banners and posters continue to stay, a senior official of the GHMC said. In a bid to dominate, both the rival parties had put up banners across the city. The BJP highlighted its campaign at the party's National Executive Committee meeting held here while TRS propagated its support for the joint candidate of Opposition parties for presidential elections Yashwant Sinha.
Sinha, who visited the city on Saturday, was accorded a grand reception as Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao himself received the presidential candidate at Begumpet Airport. He was taken to a meeting place in a rally with thousands of TRS workers riding two-wheelers. En route to Jala Vihar where Sinha and KCR addressed the electorate was turned pink, TRS's official color with several banners and hoardings.
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GHMC's Enforcement Vigilance & Disaster Management (EVDM) has been receiving several pictures of unauthorized banners and posters through its social media accounts. Responding to the messages, the civic body started issuing notices asking the parties to cough up the fine within a week. “So far, we have issued different notices imposing a fine of Rs 20 lakh on BJP. Similarly, notices have been issued to TRS also asking them to pay the fine of Rs 3 lakh.
As and when we receive a message from our social accounts, our officials go there and check if the banners are authorized or not. If unauthorized, then we will issue notices to the party concerned,” the official told PTI. Besides online complaints and pictures, GHMC field staff also would survey their respective areas and levy fines if they found any unauthorized banners, the official further said. According to sources, if the party does not respond within one week, the civic body would send another notice and follow it up. If the unauthorized banner was put by a political party, the notice would go to the party's general secretary. In the case of individuals, the GHMC officials would trace the contact details of that person and serve notice. (PTI)
