The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued notices to Western Railways and Central Railways directing them to take down large hoardings that have been put up in their region. The action was taken after the recent Ghatkopar tragedy in which 16 people lost their lives, while 74 were injured.
The notices have been released based on Section 30 (2) (V) of the Disaster Management Act 2005. The head of both the zonal railways has been ordered to get rid of all the hoardings which exceed 40X40 feet in size.
Mumbai billboard collapse incident
An oversized hoarding of size 120×120 fell on a petrol pump situated at Chheda Nagar of Ghatkopar area, Mumbai killing 14 people and leaving 75 others injured. The reason behind the collapse of the hoarding was because of the windy weather and unseasonal rains. It is learned that the hoardings which were erected in the area are owned by the Government Railway Police (GRP).
The release stated, ‘’The Civic body has agreed not to allow the set up of hoardings which are bigger than 40X40 feet in dimension, the decision has been taken by keeping in mind the geographical location of Mumbai’’.
BMC takes action against dangerous hoardings
The tragedy has forced the civic body to take immediate action by eliminating all the dangerous hoardings that are illegal across the city. The demolition process has already been started and the remaining three hoardings on the GRP’s land are also under process. However, because of the gusty winds, some issues have been faced in removing the hoardings.
Several complaints regarding the hoardings have been put up on social media regarding the oversized hoardings.
(With PTI inputs)
