BMC, Railways meet as per SC order: Railways slap notices to 23 agencies to pull down oversized hoardings on railway premises

Earlier this month, passing an order in a plea moved by BMC claiming that the Railway authorities and others did not abide by their notice, the Supreme Court directed the Central and Western Railways and others to follow ‘in letter and spirit’ the May 15 notice issued by the civic body’s Disaster Management Authority to remove oversized and unauthorised hoardings erected on railway premises. The notice had been pressed to the railways, following the hoarding collapse on May 13, which came crashing down on a petrol pump, killing 17 people and injuring 75 others.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had also directed the BMC’s Additional Municipal Commissioner to call for a fresh meeting within a period of two weeks and that notices shall be sent to all the members, including those from Railways, and pass an order after hearing them.

On Monday, the BMC conducted the meeting with the railways in accordance with the SC order, wherein they reiterated the civic guidelines to remove the oversized and unauthorised hoardings within railway premises, in the best interest of the city.

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

Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior BMC official said, “During the meeting, we highlighted that Mumbai is densely populated which means even if the hoardings may be situated on railway land, they share boundaries with city roads, buildings, slums and other structures. If an oversized hoarding collapses even on railway land, it could fall on slums and other structures, leading to accidents. The BMC has set the 40*40 cap on the size of hoardings and we reiterated them to pull down the oversized hoardings.”

The meeting was also attended by officials from traffic police, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Public Works Department (PWD) as well as the collector’s office.

“While all the agencies agreed upon the 40 * 40 size limit on hoardings, the railways officials raised some objections to the size cap highlighting that their designs were approved by the IITs among other points,” added the official.

Meanwhile, a senior Western Railway (WR) official said that following the Supreme Court’s order to remove hoardings larger than 40ft x 40ft, the Western Railways has already instructed five of its advertisers to comply with the order.

These large hoardings were situated in Bandra, Charni Road, and Borivali. Notably, the 120ft x 120ft hoarding at Bandra highway, which alone generated Rs 8 crore in revenue for the Western Railway, will also be dismantled due to the Supreme Court’s directive, the official added.

Other railway sources indicated that although Western Railways has issued removal notices to the holders of the large hoardings, a response from them is awaited.

Meanwhile, an officil from the Central Railways said they have issued notices to agencies of all the oversized hoardings within their jurisdiction. “Within the Central Railways jurisdiction, there are 18 oversized hoardings and we have issued notices to all of them to take down the structures. Besides this, we have also issued a general notice to all other advertisers to abide by the guidelines.”

In the order, the court had said it shall be apprised of the proceedings made therein and the decision taken by the BMC authority. A senior official from BMC said the next course of action will be decided, following the discussion of the Monday meeting.