Mumbai, May 16 (IANS): Adopting a tough stance, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation on Wednesday served notices to the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) to immediately pull down all illegal and oversized hoardings on their respective lands, an official said.
The BMC has issued the notices under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to the Divisional Managers of CR and WR, asking them to remove hoardings that violate the maximum size limit of 40x40 feet (1,600 sq ft area).
The BMC has also decided that henceforth, it would not permit erecting hoardings larger than the stipulated size in view of the geographical and coastal position of Mumbai, the weather, and wind conditions, among other factors.
The move came in the wake of the crash of a monstrous hoarding measuring around 120x120 feet (14,400 sq ft area) on Monday afternoon that killed at least 14 persons, and injured 88 others, besides causing massive damage to several homes and a petrol pump in the Pant Nagar area of Ghatkopar suburb.
The hoarding was erected on a property belonging to the Government Railway Police (GRP) for which permission was reportedly given in 2021 with a validity of 10 years.
In a related development, Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde on Wednesday wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde demanding the removal of all illegal hoardings along the Western Express Highway near Santacruz which are allegedly blocking the flight path at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Hegde claimed that several airlines have already complained in the past about this, but no action has been taken, as he urged the CM to direct the BMC and the MMRDA to immediately act on the matter to avoid any possible disaster.
Following the May 13 tragedy, the BMC has launched a city-wide drive against illegal or over-sized hoardings dotting the Mumbai skyline, and taking steps to raze them.
As per the BMC, there are 1,025 big/small hoardings/billboards in the city, comprising 573 illuminated hoardings, 70 lit by LED, and 382 non-illuminated hoardings.
The BMC removed one huge illegal hoarding in Malad on Wednesday, and work on removing three massive billboards in the Ghatkopar area taken up on Tuesday will be completed on Wednesday night, officials said.
Meanwhile, rescue work continued at the Ghatkopar hoarding crash site for the third day, leading to the recovery of several crushed vehicles, raising fears of more casualties.