Legal Vs Illegal Hoardings In Mumbai: BMC Records Only 1,025 Billboards

The financial capital of India only has 1,025 legal hoardings across the city, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is said to be the richest civic body in the country.

But are there only 1,025 hoardings in Mumbai? Because the one in Ghatkopar that collapsed during the sandstorm on May 13 and killed 14 people is illegal.

And hoardings dot the city's roads continuously, a fact that every motorist and pedestrian in this bustling metropolis would attest to.

Three different bodies—the Mumbai Port Trust, Collector Land, and Railway Land—own the lands where hoardings are located in Mumbai.

The BMC is the nodal agency that establishes contracts with advertising companies to erect their hoardings. However, the BMC considers several parameters before sealing the contract.

It first seeks no-objection certificates from authorities such as the Building Proposal Department, the Tree Authority and the Soil Testing Department.

Once the certificates are issued, a one-year contract is signed between BMC and the advertiser, with a fixed deposit and rental amount. However, multiple civic activists have highlighted that these yearly renewals are ignored and hoardings continue to exist illegally.

The hoarding that collapsed in Ghatkopar belonged to Ego Media and had been put up illegally.

According to the National Disaster Response Force, the crash impacted 88 victims, out of whom 74 were rescued and sustained injuries.

Ego Media hadn't sought official permission from the BMC. It had, in fact, only consulted the Railway Police because the hoarding was to be put up on land under the jurisdiction of the Maharashtra State Police Housing Welfare Corp.

The billboard in question was roughly 120×120 feet—nearly thrice the permitted size of 40×40 feet.

NDTV Marathi spoke with Anil Galgali, a Right to Information activist, who held the Railway Police responsible for the mishap because they gave the permission without BMC's approval. The BMC had written to the Railway Police in this regard last year but no action was taken.

Bhavesh Bhinde, the owner of Ego Media, and others have been booked under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder at Pant Nagar police station.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the site of the tragedy yesterday and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to each of the deceased.

"It's a painful and sad incident, I myself visited the spot yesterday. The government will bear all the expenses of the people injured in this incident. Rs 5 lakh as compensation will be given to the next kin of the victims," Shinde was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI. "Strict action will be taken against the owner of the hoarding. A case of culpable homicide has been registered."