As Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) battle through banners, Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) is unable to regulate the display of banners which has officially been banned on the Mall and other major roads of the city, Pakistan Today has learnt. The Mall is heavily polluted by an array of banners that have been put up to advertise the PML-N rally on October 28, from Nasir Bagh to Bhatti Chowk, and the PTI rally on October 30 in Minar-e-Pakistan, following a lack of implementation of the ban. A senior official of PHA said it appeared as if political parties were questing to achieve political glory by attracting people to join their causes but neither did they consider the ban nor did they consider how adversely it polluted the road. He said some of the banners hanged through electric poles and traffic signals after last night’s windstorm. Some had fallen on the road, dirtying it while most poles displayed three to four banners which looked unsightly, he added.
In front of the Punjab Assembly, PML-N banners with pictures of Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz bearing political slogans were seen. On the other stretch of the road, PTI banners could be sighted in the proximity of the Governor House.
Javed Jabbar, a resident of lower Mall, told Pakistan Today that the unsightly banners were a cause of concern for citizens. He also noted that the government’s promise to keep the Mall free from banners had not been fulfilled.
Zahid Khan, a trader on the Mall, said traders’ organisations had lodged several complaints to discourage this practice but all in vain.
Sources in PHA revealed that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had ordered PHA to prohibit banner display on the Mall and other main roads to keep the city clean. They said a complete embargo on commercial organisation was put but political and religious parties had the capacity to take the government hostage.
They said the situation had worsened as the Punjab government was violating its own orders by allowing PML-N to display its banners on the Mall. PTI had requested PHA for permission but PML-N did not bother doing so, they added.
A senior official in PHA said as per outdoor publicity policy approved by the Punjab CM, political and religious parties were exempted from the ban. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working towards social betterment were also exempted, he added.
Meanwhile, despite repeated contact, PHA Assistant Director General Captain (r) Usman was not available for comments.
PHA helpless against PTI-PML-N ‘war of banners’
