How Mumbai Wasn't Prepared Despite 2 Billboard Crashes In Pune, Warning Letter From Ghatkopar Resident

Could the 14 lives, lost after a billboard came crashing on them in Ghatkopar after a dust storm on Monday, have been saved? Yes, if the authorities had conducted the necessary checks in the wake of two similar incidents in neighbouring Pune — one last month, in which, fortunately, there were no casualties, or last year, which saw five deaths. They were even reminded to do so by a Ghatkopar resident last year, who mentioned the 2017 Pune incident in which five lives were lost.

The 120×120-foot illegal billboard fell at a petrol pump at Chheda Nagar junction along the Eastern Eastern Expressway after a dust storm and unseasonal rain, with winds at a speed of over 96 kmph, lashed Mumbai. While 14 people died, 74 suffered injuries in the incident. Moreover, an under-construction metal parking tower collapsed on a road in Wadala on Monday, leaving three injured.

As of now, Bhavesh Bhinde, director at Ego Media Media Pvt Ltd advertising agency, who erected the hoarding at Ghatkopar, has been booked under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 337 (causing hurt to another person by acting rashly or negligently) of the Indian Penal Code. His firm has been asked to pull down their eight hoardings in the area.

THE PUNE INCIDENTS

1. On April 17, 2024, following heavy rain and wind a hoarding collapse on a vehicle at the Ubale Nagar bus stop in Wagholi, Pune. No casualties were reported.
2. On April 18, 2023, five people were killed and two injured as an iron hoarding collapsed on them at a service road in Pimpri-Chinchwad along the Mumbai-Pune highway. The incident took place in Ravet Kivale area.
3. On October 5, 2017, four people were killed when a 40-ft metal hoarding fell on people waiting at a traffic signal near Juna Bazar in Pune.

THE LETTER

Ghatkopar resident Salim Magbul Pathan had written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in August last year, raising concerns about the hoarding.

His letter surfaced on the social media on Tuesday. He received a reply that it came under the jurisdiction of the Government Railway Police (GRP). There was no follow-up on his complaint by the GRP.

SO MANY WARNINGS

The BMC said it had warned the railways of the dangerous nature of the boards. In the blame game after the incident, the BMC showed a letter stating the railways gave permission for the hoarding, while the railways have claimed the land didn’t belong to them.

The GRP in a statement said the process of removal of hoardings began after the BMC sent them a letter last week. The BPCL petrol pump and the hoardings were managed by the Railway Police Welfare Fund Association since 2021.

Meanwhile, the high court had rapped the Maharashtra government in December against illegal hoardings and banners. In February this year, the High Court had issued stringent directives concerning the proliferation of illegal hoardings, stating that no political party, religious organisation, or commercial entity can exploit public spaces for personal gains through advertising.

WHY CHECKS AND ACTION MATTER

The checks would have easily led to the fact that the permissible size for billboards is a maximum of 40×40 feet, but the one that collapsed was 120×120 feet.

Under the civic scanner for a year, the BMC’s tree department had registered an official complaint with the police against Ego Media for violating protocols in December 2023. It had again approached the police for action two weeks ago in April.

The BMC on Tuesday started taking down the remaining hoardings on the GRP land at Chheda Nagar and has prepared a plan to raze the remaining hoardings on the GRP land. Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde has now ordered a structural audit of all hoardings in Mumbai.

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