Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: BMC appoints VJTI expert appointed to find reasons behind tragedy

The hoarding in Ghatkopar that collapsed on a petrol pump on Monday. Pic/Sameer Abedi

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday appointed an expert from the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) to find the reasons behind the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse in Mumbai that claimed 14 lives, reported the PTI.

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, as per the PTI.

IN PHOTOS: Locals gather at Ghatkopar hoarding collapse site as rescuers continue operations on day 2

6 months agoPHOTO GALLERY

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, according to the PTI.

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, the news agency reported on Tuesday.

Will act against all illegal hoardings in Mumbai: BMC

A day after the collapse of an illegal hoarding claimed 14 lives in Ghatkopar hoarding collapse, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said that it would take action against all hoardings erected without its permission, reported the PTI.

No action was taken in the past against the giant hoarding that crashed on a petrol pump in Chheda Nagar area on Monday evening as a dispute was going on between the BMC and Government Railway Police (GRP), an official said, as per the PTI.

The drive will start with the removal of the remaining three hoardings on the GRP land in Ghatkopar, said municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani on Tuesday after visiting the site where rescue operation is underway, according to the PTI.

"Regarding this incident, a case has been registered. We have also directed all civic officials and assistant commissioners to remove such hoardings erected without our permission or which are dangerous in their respective wards immediately. In the next few days you will find this action completed," he said.

(with PTI inputs)