Oppn, Mayor of south civic body trade charges over letting out advert space to individuals

“They passed this proposal by view of majority in the House. Even then, I had registered my dissent. These hoardings placed next to the water booths fetch these individuals Rs 5 lakh-Rs 6 lakh per month. It is a loss of revenue for the South corporation,” Suri said.

Choudhary condemned the allegations and accused Suri of “playing politics” on the issue of installing hoardings at water coolers. She said it was a public service facility and the intention was to serve the citizens. Chaudhary also refuted the fact that the revenue could be generated from this scheme, which was approved by the House in October 2013.

Suri presented a letter in the House wherein the mayor had stated that appreciating the merits of the scheme, she was providing “anticipatory approval” to it. He said the mayor had no authority to provide such an approval.

“You have no such power and I will resign if you prove that you do,” Suri told the mayor during the meeting of the House on Wednesday.

Suri also alleged that the south civic body was being robbed of revenue because if regularised, these kiosks would fetch at least Rs 1.5 crore per month.

“The mayor, accompanied by BJP leader Vijay Goel, inaugurated a kiosk like this on Lodhi Road in January. The individual first put up photos of BJP leaders on the hoarding and, more recently, gave the space to some jeweller. I have shown pictures of the advertisement to the officials here and, yet, no action has been taken,” he said.

In her defence, Choudhary said the corporation had started this scheme according to the guidelines of the Supreme Court. According to the court, the mayor said, 70 per cent advertisement coverage can be given at public services kiosks. “We have also passed this proposal in Standing Committee and the House, so declaring it illegal is completely unjustified,” Chaudhary said.