The Central Railway authorities on Tuesday, May 14, have ordered all five railway divisions, that is Mumbai, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Solapur and Pune, to conduct an audit of hoardings in these zones. The step by Central Railway is in wake of Mumbai’s Ghatkoper hoarding collapse. The incident reportedly took the lives of 14 people.
“A detailed structural audit is being carried out and will be completed shortly as per the instructions of Ram Karan Yadav, the general manager of the Central Railway,” Swapnil Nila, chief spokesperson, Central Railway, said.
As per the information, the step by Central Railway on structural audit order of all hoardings in Mumbai was taken once the chief minister Eknath Shinde visited the site after the incident.
Nila said that the engineering department has been asked by the Central Railways to conduct an audit of all such hoarding from the stability point of view. He further added that the civic body conducts such audits on hoardings from time to time in railway premises. “Structural audits for the hoardings are being carried out regularly,” Nila said.
Hoardings present
There are 138 hoardings in 99 distinct places belonging to the Mumbai division of Central Railways. According to the official, these hoardings can only be as large as 100 by 40 feet, and the contract’s duration can range from five to seven years.
Ghatkoper incident
Strong winds on Monday night caused the massive billboard at Chheda Nagar in Ghatkopar to collapse, leaving 14 people dead and 75 injured. The Government Railway Police (GRP) owned the site where the hoarding was located.
(with PTI inputs)
