 "After Mumbai billboard tragedy, MCD to audit conditions of Delhi hoardings")
A day after a massive illegal billboard collapsed in Mumbai, killing 14 people, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday ordered an audit of the structural safety of hoardings, unipoles, and other advertisement structures in the national capital.
"In the wake of the unfortunate incident of the collapse of a hoarding in Mumbai due to a thunderstorm causing the loss of precious lives on May 13, all the advertisers empanelled with the advertisement department of the corporation are advised to carry out a structural audit of their unipoles and advertisement structures immediately and fix them if so needed," the MCD stated in an order dated May 14.
In Delhi, the size of hoardings is capped at 32x16 feet for roads wider than 100 feet and 20x10 feet for roads less than 100 feet in width.
Central Railways orders audit of billboards
A major controversy erupted over the Mumbai billboard, which collapsed over a petrol pump in the Ghatkopar area during a dust storm on Monday, after it was found that the illegal hoarding measured 120 feet tall. This is far beyond the authorised size of billboards in Mumbai, capped at 40x40 feet by the Mumbai civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Apart from the MCD, the Central Railway authorities also directed all its five divisions to conduct an audit of all such structures in their respective zones.
"A detailed structural audit is being carried out and will be completed shortly as per the instructions of Ram Karan Yadav, the general manager of the Central Railway," CR's chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila said on Tuesday.
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179 illegal billboards found in Mumbai by BMC
As many as 75 people were injured in the Ghatkopar tragedy, which took place at Chheda Nagar. A blame game between the BMC and the Railways also erupted over the land ownership of the accident site. The BMC said that it did not approve the hoarding, which stood on the Railways' land, a claim that the Central Railway initially refused.
However, it has been found that the hoarding was indeed located on the land of the Government Railway Police (GRP), which does not need the civic body's permission to approve billboards. Since the incident, the civic body has flagged 179 illegal hoardings in Mumbai, all on GRP land, a report by Hindustan Times said.
Following the incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had also ordered a structural audit of all hoardings in Mumbai.