Only 1,000 hoardings in Mumbai are legal

The BMC started removing illegal hoarding at the Ghatkopar Railway Police quarters on Tuesday

Official records state that there are only 1,000 legal hoardings in the city. The BMC has now decided to take down all illegal hoardings and initiated an audit of all billboards. Additionally, the BMC has started removal of billboards around the site of the collapse in Ghatkopar. Civic authorities have swiftly acted following the incident of the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse, which resulted in 14 deaths. Civic chief Bhushan Gagrani informed the media that actions were initiated as of Tuesday.

Gagrani visited the spot in Ghatkopar on Tuesday and said, "I have also asked all administrative wards to take action against dangerous hoarding. Action will start soon." Meanwhile, BMC has started removing all hoardings at Ghatkopar railway police quarters, where the incident happened on Monday evening. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered BMC to take strict action against illegal hoardings after he visited the spot.

As per BMC's hoarding policy guidelines established in 2008, hoardings in Mumbai are permitted to have a maximum size of 40 feet by 20 feet. However, the hoarding in Ghatkopar exceeds this regulation, measuring 120 feet by 120 feet. BMC data indicates that out of the 1025 permanent hoardings deemed illegal, 573 are illuminated, 382 are non-illuminated, and only 70 LED hoardings comply with regulations.

BMC started removing illegal hoarding at the GRP quarters

Civic activist Anil Galgali slammed BMC over the delay in taking action against illegal hoarding. "When complaints are made to BMC regarding the illegal work, immediate action is not taken. This kind of negligence has also come forward in this accident. Now after the accident, BMC is going to take action against all illegal hoardings. If such action was taken earlier, this accident would not have happened," Galgali said.

40 x 20 ft
Permissible size limit for hoardings in city