‘Signs’ of callousness in state capital!
Over two dozen sign boards installed across Lucknow bear spelling mistakes
LUCKNOW: Signages are meant to assist commuters in finding their destination. But over two dozen sign boards installed across the city bear spelling mistakes, making a mockery of efforts to promote Lucknow as a tourism hub.
A number of such sign boards belong to the tourism department and the Public Works Department (PWD), say heritage activists.
Citizens and historians say ‘erroneous signages’ show the callousness of officials engaged in the installation of signages. They also raise a question mark over the schooling of officials, emphasising that spell checks must be ensured while setting up sign boards.
A signage, with UP Tourism logo on it, near the Residency, spells Residency as ‘Rasidency’. The same signage also shows Teele Wali Masjid as ‘Tile Wali Masjid’.
Another signboard of UP Tourism near Parivartan Chowk installed outside Maqbara Mushir Zadi reads ‘Murshid Zadi ka Makbara’. Ironically, the erroneous board is next to another signage, installed by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which bears the correct spelling of the nawabi era structure.
Another signage, bearing UP Tourism logo on Sibtainabad Imambara campus reads it as ‘Siptainabad Imambara’.
A signboard installed by the PWD near Hotel Clarks Awadh reads Shani temple as ‘Shani Tample’. And the one near Hanuman Setu temple reads ‘Hanuman Setu Tample’.
Similarly, there are other sign boards with errors. “It’s really awful to see such spelling errors, especially on the sign boards of the tourism department. It reflects the schooling and callous approach of tourism department officers towards the city’s rich heritage,” says S Mohammed Haider, a heritage activist who has taken up the issue of spelling errors on signages with the tourism department and the PWD.
Around a month back, Haider approached the tourism department, mentioning about the spelling errors on signboards. But the department apparently paid no heed towards the written complaint.
“Such spelling errors present a bad image of Lucknow that hosted the investors’ summit. Officials concerned should be held responsible for callousness,” he adds. The heritage activist has also filed a fresh complaint with the tourism department and the PWD, seeking removal of such hoardings.
Noted historian Yogesh Praveen says spelling errors in the names of historical structures are no less than a mockery of Lucknow’s history.
However, tourism department officials deny their role saying they hire government agencies for the installation of sign boards and it’s their fault.
“We hire government agencies and give them the name of the tourism site or place in writing,” says an officer with tourism department.
But the officer failed to answer when asked whether officials cross check the spellings after the sign board is installed. PK Singh, joint director, UP tourism, too calls it a flaw and blames officers at the local level. He assured that all faulty signages will be replaced within a week.