Mumbai: Two weeks after the tragic incident of a billboard collapse on Ghatkopar's petrol pump that claimed 17 and injured 75, the BMC has removed 14 oversized hoardings erected on premises of Government Railway Police (GRP). However, the remaining 31 hoardings above the permissible limit are yet to be pulled down.
The civic body has already asked the railway authorities to remove these hoardings immediately to avoid any mishap in the future. After the incident, the BMC took a review of oversize billboards that needed to be removed for the safety of citizens. There are 1,025 legal hoardings in the BMC's jurisdiction, while 179 on the railway land.
The billboard that collapsed was 120ft x 120ft, which is far beyond the permissible size of hoarding as per the BMC's policy. The civic body has noticed 45 oversize hoardings on railway land that should be removed for safety purposes. So, a notice was sent to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Central Railway (CR) and the Western Railway (WR) to remove oversize hoardings erected on their land.
"Out of 45 hoardings on GRP and railway land that are above the permissible limit (40 ft x40 ft.), we have removed four hoardings erected by the Ego media in Ghatkopar. While the other eight hoardings on Tilak Bridge in Dadar were removed in the last week. We have yet to get a response from the railways about their action on the oversize hoardings in their premises. We will take a review about the same on Tuesday," said a senior civic official.
The chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority(DDMA), Mumbai city, is also an additional municipal commissioner, Dr. Ashiwini Joshi, issued a notice exercising power provided under section 30 (2) (v) and section 31 (3) (b) Disaster Management Act 2005, to the police commissioner (railway) on May 17.
The GRP was instructed to remove eight illegal hoardings erected by the Ego media on Tilak Bridge at Dadar, who also owned the hoarding at Ghatkopar. However, the hoardings were pulled down by the BMC staff after the Police Commissioner (Railway) Dr Ravindra Shisve requested DDMA to remove the hoardings on their behalf as the GRP lacked the required manpower and machinery.
Meanwhile, the BMC has set up an eight-member panel to formulate comprehensive guidelines on outdoor advertising (concerning billboards) and oversee the transition to digital hoarding in the city. The panel is expected to submit a report within two months.
