THE hoarding that collapsed in Ghatkopar on May 13, claiming 17 lives, had the capacity to withstand wind speeds of just 49.5 kmph as against the wind speed recorded that day of 87 kmph, a report submitted by the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) to the Mumbai police SIT said. As per rules, hoardings in the city should have the capacity to handle 158.4 kmph speed. The institute, which was roped in to conduct the structural audit of the hoarding, also said that it collapsed due to its inadequate/faulty design and poor foundation. An official said, “We have received the interim report from VJTI, which mentions that the structure was weak and was not built to survive wind speeds above 49.5 kmph. rules say any structure in the city should be able to survive wind speed of 158.4 kmph. The foundation of the structure was also weak.” The officer added, “This has proved our case that the incident happened due to flouting of norms and not due to any ‘act of God’. It also proves that the auditing agency, which gave a safety report was not acting in good faith.” The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Mumbai crime branch is probing the hoarding collapse incident. The SIT has so far arrested two accused — Bhavesh Bhinde, proprietor of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, which owned the ill-fated hoarding, and Manoj Ramkrishna Sanghu, a BMC-approved engineer who allegedly gave the stability certificate for 120x140 feet hoarding on April 24, 2023, despite knowing that it was bigger than the maximum size permitted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Bhinde is in judicial custody while Sanghu’s police custody ended on June 5. He was produced in the court and sent to judicial custody, the official added.
