The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Tuesday appointed an expert from the city-based Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute to find the reasons behind the hoarding collapse in Ghatkopar that claimed 14 lives.
As per a preliminary observation, 'foundation failure' could be the reason for the collapse of the 120 x 120 feet hoarding erected on a piece of land in possession of the Government Railway Police, said a BMC official.
The foundation was apparently not enough deep, he said.
An expert from the the structural engineering department of the government-run VJTI has been appointed to study the reasons and he would submit a report in a few days, the official added.
The depth of foundation is decided on the basis of local geology and the load of the hoarding, said another official.
"In this case, the BMC had no control (as permission for the hoarding was granted by GRP) and hence we do not know if a certificate of an empanelled consultant was obtained or not," he said.
Rakhi Jadhav, a local NCP (SP) leader who reached the spot immediately after the collapse, told PTI that the land, located along the Eastern Express Highway, is marshy, and had been reclaimed before the petrol pump was set up there.
"How such a huge hoarding came to be erected on marshy land? It is not at all a suitable location," she said.
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