CUTTACK: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has launched a crackdown against advertising agencies that have put up hoardings in the city without paying arrears to the civic body. The CMC has started removing such hoardings and sent notices to the offending agencies, asking them to pay their dues."If the agencies fail to remove the hoardings, we will remove them. We will recover the removal cost from the agencies," said CMC commissioner Bikash Mohapatra. "Our teams have started pulling down illegal hoardings. We will not allow a single illegal hoarding to remain in Cuttack," he added.The CMC commissioner said legal action might be initiated against the offending agencies. "We will file a civil suit against the defaulters," said a civic body official.Sources said the CMC had identified at least 30 advertising agencies that had not paid their dues. Besides, more than 60 spots were identified in the city where hoardings had been put up illegally.The CMC recently launched an online registration system for advertising agencies. Using this system, the agencies were required to declare the number of hoardings put by them in the city, along with their exact location and size. The move was aimed to create a database of hoardings in the city and keep tabs on illegal ones. "The online system has helped us pinpoint the defaulters," said a CMC official. So far, 60 agencies have registered with the database.The CMC earned Rs 2 crore as revenue from hoardings last year. It wants to double this amount this year.

Stay updated with all the Latest Cuttack headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.