- Sky high publicity materials installed on Devaraj Urs Road recently triggers safety debate
- Local shopkeepers wonder about MCC turning a blind eye and resorting to act only later
- Unbridled publicity craze puts lives of public at risk, yet no concrete action against violators
Mysuru, June 30 (PM&BS)- Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) makes a rule, remains nonchalant allowing the violators to have a free run and finally calls for action with a renewed vigour.
All these was evident, when high rise cut-outs and other types of publicity materials sprung up on the either side of D. Devaraj (D.D.) Urs Road, the prominent commercial hub of the city recently.
The cut-outs erected against the 50-feet tall iron scaffoldings, nearly touching the skies, were installed at about 10 points on a km-long stretch of road from K.R. Circle to JLB Road Junction. They were voluntarily removed by those who had erected them, as the Abhaya personnel of MCC, resorted to act with the help of a crane.
While the glaring publicity materials that sprang up overnight raised the eyebrows of many, it strangely didn’t come to the notice of the MCC officials, until Mysuru Mithra (MM), the sister publication of Star of Mysore (SOM), wrote extensively about the menace of publicity materials and dangers associated with it, in its June 30, 2026 edition.
Leave aside the Civic Body, even the Police didn’t find any fault in them, at least in the interest of public safety, with D.D. Urs Road being the most busiest stretch of road throughout the day. The very road is the most visited by locals and tourists alike, to shop for varieties like that of garments, jewellery, mobile phones and any other essential goods to name a few. It is anybody’s imagination, the density of both pedestrians and vehicles. Yet, the multiple agencies, who are accountable to public safety, turned a blind eye to the unabated publicity stunt, that otherwise spooked danger.
Sky high publicity materials, which was installed on D. Devaraj Urs Road in city recently, being removed by MCC Abhaya personnel with the help of a crane this morning.
The debate surrounded about the cut-out not just for its height, but for the metal scaffoldings against earlier widely used bamboo poles, as a pillar of support. Any collapse of metal scaffoldings may prove fatal or non-fatal, especially in busy stretches. With monsoon setting in and the rain followed by heavy wind witnessed at times, the safety norms were blatantly thrown into the wind, alleged local traders, pointing at the stones and tiles, kept in the bottom of the scaffoldings as a structural support.
Zonal Commissioner
Interestingly, when SOM spoke to M.S. Pratibha, MCC Zone-6 Assistant Commissioner, over phone, the officer said, the banners and buntings are being removed along with the cut-outs. While she abruptly chose to cut the call, the moment a question was asked about whether MCC had issued permission.
Action sure: RC
Nitesh Patil, Regional Commissioner (RC) of Mysuru Division, also the MCC Administrator, clarified that, no cut-outs or banners are allowed to be installed without the permission of the MCC Commissioner.
The MCC Commissioner is on leave. There is no information available now, whether the permission had been issued or not. Action will be taken after examining the issue, he added.
MCC toothless
A concerned shopkeeper said, “I had never been witness to MCC becoming so toothless. There seems to be a situation, where nobody has control on any affairs within the Civic Body. Hence, the people act according to their whims and fancy. We are forced to bear all these nonsense and remain blind, for the fear of life.”
This post was published on June 30, 2026 7:30 pm