A day after the Supreme Court directed the Central Railways (CR) and Western Railways (WR) to follow ‘in letter and spirit’ the notice issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Disaster Management Authority regarding installation of oversized hoardings, the BMC has called for a meeting with the railway officials on Thursday, July 18.
Confirming the same, a BMC official said, “We will table the SC directives before the railway officials and ask them to remove the oversized hoardings. There are 45 oversized hoardings in railway premises out of which seven have been removed till now.”
Stating that they are yet to receive the transcript of the SC order, both CR and WR said they will be able to comment once they get the same. However, they replied in the affirmative when asked whether they will be attending the meeting.
The BMC had issued a notice to advertisers and railway authorities to immediately remove oversized (more than 40 x 40 feet) hoardings in railway premises adjoining municipal roads, private lands and structures two days after a massive hoarding collapsed in Ghatkopar on May 13, 2024, killing 17 people and injuring 75 others.
Claiming that the Railway authorities and others did not abide by the notice issued on May 15, 2024, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah passed an order on July 10, 2024 asking the Central and Western Railways apart from others to follow ‘in letter and spirit’ the BMC notice.
“In the meanwhile, the respondent (including General Managers of Western and Central Railway) shall follow the directions as to the hoardings, the size etc. which have been given by the petitioner (BMC) earlier. Notice dated May 15, 2024 shall be followed in its letter and spirit,” the bench said and listed the matter for further hearing after four weeks.
The Supreme Court also directed the Additional Municipal Commissioner of BMC to call for a fresh meeting within a period of two weeks and issue notices to all the members, including those from Railways, and pass an order after hearing them. The court said it shall be apprised of the proceedings made therein and a decision taken by the BMC.
Before permitting the hoarding on private property, the owners have to take a certificate from the structural engineer of the BMC. Also, the civic engineers visit the site and verify if the hoarding is as per the norms and strong enough. They also have to take a certificate from the structural engineer after every two years. Considering the safety measures, the BMC never permits any hoarding above 40x40 feet in size. Still, there are several huge hoardings in the railway premises that have raised a safety concern in the city.
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