PMRDA to bring down 360 illegal hoardings

These hoardings are located on Ahmednagar Road in Shirur, Old Mumbai Highway and Expressway, Nashik Highway, Chakan, Rajgurunagar, Pune Satara Highway near Shindewadi, Khed Shivapur, along Solapur Highway

The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has identified as many as 360 unauthorised hoardings in its jurisdiction and plans to take them down, said officials.

Five people were killed after a hoarding fell in Kiwale on April 17, 2023. (HT FILE)

There are 842 villages and a surrounding area of 7,357 square kilometres within the PMRDA jurisdiction, and these include state and national highways, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), and the cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad and several other villages.

These hoardings are located on Ahmednagar Road in Shirur, Old Mumbai Highway and Expressway, Nashik Highway, Chakan, Rajgurunagar, Pune Satara Highway near Shindewadi, Khed Shivapur, along Solapur Highway.

The town planning department of the PMRDA published a tender on January 24 for the demolition of these illegal hoardings.

The agency responsible for the demolition will also be required to dismantle the hoarding structures and contribute a certain amount to PMRDA after selling the scrap.

The initiative aims to enhance safety measures and regulate hoardings within the PMRDA region, said officials

A senior official of PMRDA requesting anonymity said, “There are 1,440 hoardings in the PMRDA region and we have identified as many as 360 illegal hoardings as they have not taken necessary permissions. We have decided to demolish it.”

Earlier, the Pune district administration had conducted survey in May 2023 after unstable hoarding fell on five persons in Kiwale, killing them on April 17, 2023.

In this survey, Pune district administration found only 27 out of the total 1,440 hoardings to be authorised and the remaining 1,413 hoardings to be unauthorised. Eighty-seven out of the 1,413 unauthorised hoardings were deemed hazardous; posing a significant risk of accidents.

On June 1, 2023, two hoardings crashed in Mhalunge village, Hinjewadi, but there were no injuries reported. The mishaps caused panic amongst residents and they demanded better safety measures and the removal of unauthorised hoardings in the PMRDA region.

Dinesh Shinde, a resident of Valu village, said, “Most of the hoardings are not safe and even more dangerous during monsoon.”

Vivekananda Sutar, a resident of Shirur, said, “Hoardings are mostly placed near main roads which can be dangerous for commuters. PMRDA should give permission to raise hoardings on open grounds to avoid accidents.”