8 hoardings on premises of Pune railway station yet to submit structural audits

To prevent a similar incident to the one in Mumbai where a massive hoarding collapsed in Ghatkopar killing 16 people, the Pune division has reviewed around 65 hoardings installed on the premises of stations within the division

28 hoardings are located around Pune railway station and all of them are legal, railway authorities have said. (Express Photo by Shubham Tigga)

The Pune Railway Division has initiated a special drive to inspect hoardings near stations within the division from May 15, two days after a massive hoarding collapsed in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar, killing 16 people and injuring over 70 others.

To prevent a similar incident to the one in Mumbai, the Pune division has reviewed around 65 hoardings installed on the premises of stations within the division. Among these, 28 hoardings are located around Pune railway station, of which eight have not submitted their structural audits yet, said a railway official.

“These billboards and hoardings belong to private agencies, and the auditing costs amount to Rs 25,000 or more.

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However, often the process is merely on paper. The owners of these hoardings will be contacted and given around a week’s time to complete the audit after reviewing the agreement documents,” said the railway official.

The Pune railway division has generated around Rs 10 crore revenue from the hoardings installed on the premises of Pune railway station in the last two years. The last structural audit of all hoardings was conducted in November of last year, valid until 2026.

However, another railway official from the Divisional Railway Manager’s office mentioned that all hoardings, except those in new stations merged under Pune division, are legal. “We have warned the parties to submit their audits within a week,” he added.

The incident in Mumbai harks back to 2018, when three people were killed and several were injured after a hoarding was being dismantled by a private contractor a railway land at Shahir Amar Shaikh Chowk near Juna Bazar Chowk. Currently, there are four hoardings installed at Juna Bazar Chowk, each sized 40*30. To prevent mishaps in future, the billboard has been relocated and its foundations have been reviewed.

Shubham Tigga

Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India. Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn ... Read More

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