Ads on highway pillars: Complaint filed as Ludhiana MC floats tenders sans NHAI nod

City-based activist Kuldeep Singh Khaira has filing a complaint with the municipal corporation Commissioner and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) regarding tenders for media advertisements displayed on the pillars of an elevated road along Ludhiana-Ferozepur road without obtaining permission from the NHAI.
The tenders for outdoor media units, including the pillars under the elevated road project on Ferozepur road, were auctioned with a reserve price of ₹6.25 crore. In the complaint, Khaira alleged that this action by the municipal corporation (MC) violates statutory provisions that prohibit advertisements over national highways within the right of way.
Khaira emphasised the need for an investigation into how the MC could float tenders to auction advertisement rights on pillars constructed by the NHAI. He called for concrete action from the NHAI.
NHAI Ludhiana project director Nav Ratan said, “We received the proposal from the civic body three days ago and we have not given any permission for this. I am still examining and considering the facts and terms of this issue.”
MC commissioner Sandeep Rishi, however, asserted, “We have sent the proposal to NHAI in this regard and if the officers do not give permission, then we can curtail the project and will not hand over those sites to them.”