Follow BMC letter on removing oversized, unauthorised hoardings on railway premises: SC

On July 10, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah of the Supreme Court passed an order in a plea moved by BMC claiming that the Railway authorities and others did not abide by the notices issued on May 15.

The Supreme Court directed the Additional Municipal Commissioner of the BMC to call for a fresh meeting within a period of two weeks and issue notices to all the members, including those from Railways, and pass an order after hearing them.

The court said it shall be apprised of the proceedings made therein and a decision taken by the BMC. According to a senior civic official, the BMC recently convened a meeting with the Railways, in light of the court directives, wherein they reiterated the authority to abide by the order and pull down oversized hoardings in the interest of the city.

“In the meanwhile, the respondent (including General Managers of Western and Central Railway) shall follow the directions as to the hoardings, the size etc. which have been given by the petitioner (BMC) earlier. Notice dated May 15, 2024 shall be followed in its letter and spirit,” the bench said and posted further hearing after four weeks.

On May 13, 17 people were killed and 75 injured after a hoarding owned by Ego Media Private Limited came crashing down on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar’s Pant Nagar area.

Pointing to the mishap, on May 15, the BMC issued a notice to the Western and the Central Railways, asking them to conduct a structural audit of the all hoardings which are of 40*40 feet and submit a report of the same in seven days.

Furthermore, invoking Section 30 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which permits BMC to give directions to different authorities to mitigate any disaster, the civic body also instructed the railways to remove all over-sized (more than 40*40 feet) hoardings.

For the record, the BMC’s policy guidelines for outdoor hoarding in Mumbai issued in 2008 cap the maximum size of a hoarding at 40 x 40 feet, a dimension which has been determined on the basis of the wind speed in the coastal city.