By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 3, 2018: Even as union minister for petroleum and natural gas, skill development and entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan is scheduled to flag off a first of its kind premier Cyclothon event under the banner of “Saksham Cyclothon” Bhubaneswar on Sunday evening here, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday slapped Rs 1 crore penalty on Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), the organiser of a scheduled Cyclothon event in for putting up hoardings in prohibited areas.

The BMC cited that the PCRA put up hoardings without permission from the concerned authorities thereby violating advertisement norms.

“We have levied Rs 1 crore fine on PCRA for violating the advertisement norms. Fine of Rs 5,000 per advertisement has been levied for 2,000 hoardings put up in restricted areas. The organiser has neither taken permission from concerned authorities nor paid advertisement fees,” Srimat Mishra, BMC Deputy Commissioner said.

In fact, the event ran into further trouble after participants ransacked the registration counter at Kalinga Stadium over non-availability of free kit like wrist band, helmet & t-shirt.

The participants, who had lined up for long time to get the kit, vandalised the stadium furniture and other materials after the organiser stopped the distribution process midway.

“We had registered online for the competition and were assured of a free kit. But now what we saw here is really disgusting. No proper arrangements have been made by the organiser for smooth conduct of the event,” a participant said.

“Those who have not registered their names online created ruckus to get the kit free of cost,” another participant said.

PCRA is organising the Cyclothon to create awareness on oil and gas conservation. The organisers have planned to distribute 50 cycles to the participants on the basis of a lucky draw.

PCRA in association with Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, Oil India, NRL, GAIL, ONGC – MRPL and CPCL under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, have planned to organise 76 cycling events across the country for creating awareness on health, environment and conservation of petroleum products.