PATNA, Feb. 15 -- The Patna municipal corporation (PMC) has kicked off yet another major drive to clear the city's skyline of unauthorised advertising billboards, with deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha - who also holds the urban development portfolio - directing officials to pull down 849 illegal hoardings identified in a recent survey.

The survey, covering the stretch from Digha to Patna City, counted a total of 1,092 hoardings - just 243 of them legal or government-approved. The rest, officials say, were put up without any permission, often by networks that have turned this into a profitable, underground business.

In a review meeting, Sinha didn't mince words. He ordered the PMC and other agencies to act fast, warning that unaut...