Is Chennai’s Skyline Dull? – Sans Hoarding & Digital Signage?

Talk about the skyline of any bustling mega-city and the first thing that comes to our mind is the bright night light from hoardings and digital signage.

But unlike other mega-cities like Delhi and Mumbai, Chennai’s skyline is very dull!? Are we the only ones to think so? Not so apparently.

We dug a little bit deeper and found the following:

1. High Court Order: The first thing that everybody pointed out by many Greater Chennai Corporation employees was the presence of a High Court Directive by the Honorable High Court.
2. Private vs Public Land: The high court order however only regulates hoardings and digital signage on public land.
3. Non-Online Process: The cost of advertisements range from a few hundreds per square feet to a few thousands per sq.ft depending on the location in the city. However advertising experts point out that most of media space buying is done out of Mumbai. So the ability of media houses to buy spaces online would add a Philip to demand for spaces.
4. Lack of Consistent Process: Earlier the end user had to approach the Commissioner of Chennai and subsequently this role was shifted to the Collector of Chennai. In the rule revised by Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS), this authority was again shifted to the Collector of Chennai. But this authority is likely to again come back to the Commissioner.