Team Goemkarponn
TALEIGAO: A group of citizens led by former bureaucrat Elvis Gomes has urged Goa University to immediately remove commercial advertisements, posters and large hoardings fixed on electricity poles and the road median within the university campus precincts. The demand was placed in a formal representation submitted to Registrar Prof. Dhuri on Thursday, following a delegation meeting earlier in the day.
In their letter, Gomes, along with Pradeep Padgaonkar and Melwin Fernandes of Citizens for Democracy Goa, expressed concern over what they described as the “proliferation” of commercial advertising structures along the internal road that connects Dona Paula Circle to the Goa Medical College (GMC).
The signatories recalled a similar complaint they had submitted on December 4, 2022, under the banner of the All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC), saying the issue had not only remained unresolved but had “escalated significantly”. They pointed out that large billboards were now being mounted on the road median and even on electrical poles inside the campus.
The group flagged two main concerns: road safety and the erosion of academic sanctity. They said the billboards—some allegedly improperly installed—pose a tangible safety hazard to motorists as they can obstruct visibility, distract drivers and even collapse, citing the recent fatal hoarding collapse in Mumbai as an example.
Further, they argued that the advertising clutter compromises the character of Goa’s premier State university, which they said is meant to nurture a peaceful academic environment. They said exposing students and faculty to aggressive commercial advertisements, including those promoting casinos, dilutes the intellectual ethos and campus atmosphere.
The delegation also reminded the administration of the earlier vision for the campus to remain an integrated academic zone and noted that the road running through the campus had originally been developed as part of infrastructure upgrades during the Lusofonia Games.
The citizens’ group called upon the university to direct the immediate removal of all unauthorised posters and hoardings within the campus and to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against the commercialisation of university spaces.
The group expressed hope that the university administration would take “prompt action” to preserve the integrity and safety of the campus.
