The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a notice to the Divisional Railway Managers (DRM) of both the Western Railway (WR) and the Central Railway (CR) to remove the 99 oversized hoardings that have been installed on railway land.
The civic body has issued the notice in line with the Disaster Management Act of 2005. The notice came a day after a billboard collapsed on a petrol pump and crushed it. It led to the loss of 14 lives.
City officials have also decided to investigate the structural stability of the fallen hoardings. They have sought the expertise of the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) for this.
The municipality has outlined that before any hoarding is allowed on their land, the owners should get a certificate from the BMC's structural engineer. This is to make sure that the hoarding is in compliance with regulations.
The BMC has never approved hoardings larger than 40 by 40 feet. Despite this, there are several massive hoardings on railway grounds. This is because, under railway policy, hoardings are allowed in certain locations without the need for approval from the department of civic licenses.
As per civic sources, there are 1,025 billboards of various sizes in the city. Of these, 573 have lights, 70 have LED lights, and 382 do not. Out of approximately 179 hoardings on railway property, 99 have been found to exceed 120 feet in height.
The areas of Wadala, Bandra West, Sion, Mahim, and Matunga have the highest number of hoardings on railway land. The largest dimensions for billboards are around 100 by 40 on CR and 122 by 120 on WR.
According to railway authorities, there are about 138 hoardings at 99 locations in the Mumbai division of CR and 137 hoardings at 116 locations in the WR. These hoardings undergo regular structural audits. As part of the preparations for the monsoon, another structural audit is being conducted.
During a search, city authorities also discovered that the collapsed hoarding had a shaky foundation.
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