Squall topples illegal, oversized hoarding in Ghatkopar, killing 14

The hoarding did not have requisite permissions under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. It was also three times the maximum permissible size

Mumbai: The hoarding which collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar East on Monday, killing four people and injuring another 74 persons, did not have requisite permissions under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Act, 1888. It was also three times the maximum permissible size for hoardings, which is capped by the BMC at 40 feet by 40 feet. Sources said four such hoardings were erected illegally in the area alongside a petrol pump in 2022 following clearance from the government railway police (GRP). Neither the hoardings nor the pump had no objection certificates from the state police housing corporation, which owned the land.

Personnel from Fire Brigade, NDRF, Mumbai Police and BMC rushed to the incident site and rescued those trapped under the collapsed hoarding. (Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times)

The proprietor of the advertising agency which owned the hoarding has been booked for culpable homicide and endangering the lives of people, said police.

Illegalities around the hoardings first surfaced in July 2023, when police registered a first information report regarding the alleged poisoning of eight trees that were obstructing their visibility. On April 29 this year, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya complained about the illegal hoardings to the BMC, following which the civic body issued a notice to the GRP seeking their removal.

After Monday’s incident, BMC assistant commissioner of N-ward, Gajanan Bellale, issued a notice to Ego Media Pvt Ltd, the owner of the hoardings, asking it remove them within 10 days and pay ₹6.13 crore towards pending license and penalty charges. The District Disaster Management Authority headed by additional municipal commissioner Ashwini Joshi also issued a notice to the GRP under the Disaster Management Act, seeking immediate removal of the remaining three hoardings.

The land on which the illegal hoardings stand, including the one that collapsed on Monday, originally belonged to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), said sources in the home department. The housing authority had built a big colony in the area, but since people felt unsafe living there as it was secluded, the government decided to build staff quarters for GRP personnel in the 1960s and 70s to assuage their fears. Accordingly, a part of the land was transferred to the state police housing corporation, said home department sources said.

While the quarters became dilapidated over time, in 2022, the GRP allowed Ego Media to erect four hoardings in the area without seeking permissions from the civic body. It also started the petrol pump on which the hoarding collapsed on Monday. The pump too did not have requisite permissions from the state police housing corporation, while a nod from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority was secured after commencement of operations, said highly placed sources.

“The permission was given not during my tenure. I will have to check the papers,” said GRP commissioner Ravindra Shisve.

Pradnya Sarvade, director general of GRP, said the first priority was to extricate people trapped at the accident site safely. “We will inquire into the whole issue about the petrol pump and the hoardings after that,” said Sarvade.

Municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said, “The hoarding that crashed in Ghatkopar was illegal and did not have a licence. We will check for licences of all hoardings in Mumbai – if they don’t have licences, they will be deemed illegal.” Gagrani also said structural audit of all hoardings in the city would be conducted soon.

After Monday’s incident, Pant Nagar police booked Bhavesh Bhinde, the proprietor of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, and other company representatives under sections 304 (culpable homicide), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety), 337 (causing hurt to any person by any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or personal safety), 34 (common intention), said deputy commissioner of police (zone 7) Purshottam Karad.

Spokespersons of Ego Media Pvt Ltd did not respond to multiple requests for comments.