KMC to penalise agencies if hoardings not removed by today

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will start penal action against companies that fail to remove Durga Puja hoardings by Thursday, the final day of the deadline set by the civic body.

According to officials, temporary advertisements displayed on bamboo structures across city roads were to be taken down within seven days of Dashami under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Advertisement Policy) Regulations, 2025. Inspectors from KMC’s advertising department will conduct citywide checks to identify any hoardings that remain on bamboo scaffolds after the deadline.

The civic body will impose fines on the brands associated with those advertisements. The regulations also authorise KMC to levy a penalty amounting to three times the actual display fee and recover the cost of removal if agencies fail to act on time.

Officials said that in the past, brands have stopped payments to outdoor agencies once they were notified of such penalties. Despite this, civic staff often had to remove the remaining hoardings and bamboo structures themselves.

KMC’s Member, Mayor-in-Council (Advertisement) and Rashbehari MLA Debasish Kumar had told the media that once the carnival concludes on Sunday, thereafter, all hoardings must be removed within seven days. He added that in case of non-compliance, the civic body itself would dismantle the structures.

Till last year, many such banners and flexes would remain hanging for several weeks after the festival, officials said. To address this, the new rules stipulate that temporary advertisements—whether installed by advertising agencies or Puja committees—can be displayed only from seven days before Mahalaya till seven days after Dashami.