A giant billboard that collapsed in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, killing 14 people and injuring 75 others, had been red-marked by civic authorities for over a year due to various violations, an investigation by The Indian Express revealed.
Despite receiving three notices, no substantial action was taken against the billboard, erected by Ego Media Private Limited on a plot maintained by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and owned by the Maharashtra government’s Police Housing Welfare Corporation.
The first notice, issued in March 2023, addressed non-payment of license fees. The second notice, issued on May 2 of this year, highlighted damage to trees caused by the billboard installation. The third notice, issued on the same day the structure collapsed (May 13), cited “unauthorized advertisement panels”.
The latest BMC notice that was issued on Monday, just hours before the collapse, said that the “unauthorised” advertisement panels were erected without obtaining any permission from BMC, and that it violated section 388 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act.
The notice to Ego Media demanded payment of outstanding license fees to the tune of Rs 6.14 crore within ten days and ordered the removal of all hoardings from the premises within the same period.
A separate notice sent to GRP on May 2 reported a complaint regarding tree damage caused by the billboard installation. Following an inspection, an FIR was filed against Ego Media at the Pant Nagar police station.
The notice further said that the matter should be treated as “urgent”.
According to a senior BMC official, no action was taken by civic authorities on the billboard between the first two notices.
Moreover, according to the IE report, records indicated additional regulatory breaches as the billboard was erected. According to BMC rules, hoardings should not exceed 40×40 feet, yet this billboard was much larger. There should also be a minimum gap of 70 meters between hoardings, which was not met in this case. In this billboard case, the fao was less than 50 metres.
The company also failed to submit a mandatory structural stability report.
The GRP had awarded a tender to Ego Media in December 2021 to set up and maintain the billboard. However, the work order did not specify the maximum size of hoardings. An official said that the Railway Police had leased out their lands for setting up advertisement hoardings and billboards, and the revenue generated thereof is used for the purpose of police personnel’s relief.
While the agency was responsible for the hoarding’s structural stability, records showed that in July 2023 and April 2024, BMC’s garden department had separately registered police complaints that the agency “killed” trees that were planted on the periphery.
“The complaints were filed after we found out that holes were drilled in the trunks of the dead trees in an attempt to inject poison inside them. This had led to around 40 trees losing their leaves and eventually dying… We had also written to the GRP and issued a notice to the agency as well,” said an official from the BMC’s zonal tree department, as quoted by IE.
Kiran Shirke, a senior executive with Ego Media, declined to comment on the BMC’s FIR regarding tree damage.
The BMC in 2023 had generated revenue of around Rs 179 crore, of which Rs 100 crore came from these hoardings. There are 179 hoardings on railway premises.