The billboard that collapsed on Monday in Ghatkopar’s Pant Nagar, claiming eight lives and injuring 69 others, had been under scrutiny by civic authorities for the past year, with calls for its dismantling due to violations.
On Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s ward office issued a notice to the private agency M/s Ego Media, responsible for maintaining the billboards, directing them to dismantle all structures and remove the hoardings immediately.
“The BMC permits a maximum hoarding size of 40×40 feet. However, the collapsed billboard measured 120×120 feet. Consequently, the local ward office issued a notice today to the agency, instructing them to dismantle the structure and take down all hoardings,” stated civic authorities on Monday.
Earlier in December 2023 and two weeks ago in April, the BMC’s tree department filed an official complaint with the police against the agency. Civic officials noted that indigenous trees like Subabul, Peepal, and Peltophorum planted around the billboard had mysteriously perished.
“There were two separate incidents of tree deaths along the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), one last December and another this April, where we discovered that holes were drilled into the tree trunks to inject poison, causing them to lose leaves and eventually die,” explained an official from the BMC’s zonal tree department.
Regarding the land parcel where the billboard was located, it belongs to the Mumbai collector and is under the possession of the Police Housing Welfare Corporation of the Maharashtra government.
In 2020, the Government Railway Police (GRP) had invited tenders from private agencies to set up billboards on this land. Later in 2021, M/s Ego Media was appointed by the GRP to set up billboards and was issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC). Presently, there are four hoardings on the plot.
Civic authorities also mentioned that the agency did not have permission from them to operate this billboard.
When contacted by Express, representatives of the agency declined to comment.
A senior GRP officer stated that GRP commissioner Ravindra Shisve had instructed the concerned officer to investigate when and by whom permission was granted for erecting the hoarding on GRP land and whether all regulations were followed.
