Mumbai: The BMC has received numerous complaints regarding distractions caused by the light emitted from illuminated and digital hoardings in the city. Consequently, the civic body has decided to determine the ideal lux level permissible for such hoardings. Additionally, equipment will be deployed to measure the brightness of illuminated hoardings effectively.
The issue was discussed during a meeting of a special committee convened to establish guidelines for digital hoardings in the city. Chaired by additional municipal commissioner Dr. Ashwini Joshi, the meeting took place at the BMC headquarters on Tuesday. Experts from the Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay (IIT- B), traffic police and officials of the environment and licenses department also attended the meeting.
"Several citizens and motorists have raised concerns about illuminated hoardings causing distractions while driving and affecting eyesight. To address this issue, we have already implemented a cut-off time of 11 pm for hoarding illumination. Moving forward, we will assess whether the brightness of these hoardings needs to be reduced to mitigate these concerns. It was also discussed if we need to ban on digital hoardings featuring moving advertisements," said a senior civic official.
The BMC will be procuring a digital camera, spectroradiometer, and lumino meter to monitor whether the intensity and lux levels of illuminated hoardings comply with the limits set by the traffic police, and to determine if any adjustments are necessary, said civic official. After the huge billboard collapsed on Ghatkopar's petrol pump, killing 17 on May 13, the BMC speeded up framing the hoarding policy for the city.
Since BMC is receiving several applications for digital hoardings, the civic body has taken steps to prepare separate guidelines for such hoardings. They will also be studying the policy of different states as well as countries to formulate comprehensive guidelines. There are 1025 authorised hoardings in the city, of which 67 are digital.
