ARUN BIKASH DEY

Ten years after a major eviction drive cleared Chattogram’s skyline, billboards are making a return to the port city.

New billboard structures have appeared at key intersections, including Jamal Khan, Kazir Dewri, Probortok, GEC, Lalkhan Bazar and Tiger Pass, frustrating residents who remember a time when advertisements dominated the skyline and obscured the city’s hills.

The campaign to remove billboards began in January 2016 under then mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, following sustained pressure from civil society groups. At the time, Nasir vowed that the Chattogram City Corporation would never allow billboards to return.

His successors, former administrator Khorshed Alam Sujan and former mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, largely maintained that position. Current Mayor Shahadat Hossain, after assuming office on November 5, 2024, also pledged not to allow billboards in the port city.

“In the past, we saw that those involved in the billboard business were affiliated with the ruling party. This time, the situation appears no different,” alleged Akhtar Kabir Chowdhury, president of the Chattogram chapter of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik.

Amid growing criticism, the CCC launched an eviction drive on February 19, beginning at Kazir Dewri.

Mohammad Ashraful Amin, acting chief executive officer of the CCC, said no permission had been granted for any billboard installation.

“We have ordered those who installed the structures to remove them immediately,” he told The Daily Star.

Mayor Shahadat reiterated his opposition to illegal structures but said digital displays would be treated differently. “LED screens will remain. People need a place to advertise. LED screens exist in Dhaka and in cities abroad as well,” he said.

The mayor said the CCC would allow owners a “reasonable period” to dismantle the unauthorised structures. “If they do not remove them, we will take those down ourselves,” he warned.