Kolkata, Sept. 21 -- Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has set September 25 as the deadline for Durga Puja committees to apply for a mandatory no-objection certificate (NOC) to put up temporary advertisements around their Puja pandals, a first-time requirement.
According to the civic body's notice, applications will be accepted from September 20 to 25, between 11 am and 4 pm, at a special window at KMC headquarters itself. Committees must submit the prescribed application form with details of the applicant, ward and borough, advertising locations, average size and supporting structure.
The permission will be issued as a "one-time special permission for organising Puja only". Temporary advertising structures, including bamboo scaffolding, cannot exceed 22 feet in height.
The KMC has fixed the display period. They can be installed no earlier than seven days before Mahalaya and must be removed within seven days of Bijoya Dashami. With Mahalaya falling on October 10 this year, the permitted display period will be October 3 to 28.
Committees will have to remove structures at their own expense and take responsibility for any untoward incident involving them. Advertisements cannot be placed on road dividers or median verges or obstruct the visibility of bus shelters or authorised street hoardings.
The move follows complaints over committees leaving temporary advertisements after the festival. Last year, KMC teams removed around 300 such hoardings after the deadline.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.