Thane begins crackdown on illegal hoardings

Following deadly collapse of illegal hoarding in Ghatkopar, TMC has started demolishing illegal hoardings

Following the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), demolished 14 unauthorised hoardings from Thane city. The authorities have also removed metal sheets from hoardings that are not of permissible size.

“There are 294 hoardings across the city. We regularly scrutinise these hoardings and check for their stability. We are currently taking strict action against those hoardings that are not of the permissible size,” said a TMC official.

The authorities have demolished all 14 illegal hoardings across the city as they did not have permission from authorities. “These 14 hoardings had no permission from the authorities and hence they were demolished by us. In Thane, authorities such as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC), are authorised to permit hoarding agencies,” said the TMC official.

The permissible size for the hoardings is 40x40 feet

“We have received 260 stability certificates for all the hoardings. We have identified 32 hoardings, which are not of the permissible size,” said the TMC official.
The owners of the 32 hoardings have been asked to either convert the hoardings to the permissible size or demolish them. “We have removed the metal sheets of the hoardings which are not of the permissible size and have asked the owners either to make it of the permissible size or to demolish the structure. Advertisements can’t be published till then,” said the TMC official.

According to the data provided by the TMC, the MSRDC has permitted six hoardings and they have provided the stability certificates of all the hoardings. The Central Railways had permitted one hoarding and a stability certificate has been provided for the same.  The authorities had also received stability certificates from MSRDC and Railways, as they are also authorised to grant permission to erect hoardings. 

The MSRTC has placed four hoardings on its land. “The hoardings don’t fall under TMC’s jurisdiction and hence they have not been asked to provide stability certificates,” said the TMC official. 

“The MSRTC has hoardings on the state transport bus stands and they are currently in the process of conducting structural audits, “We don’t need permission to erect the hoardings on our land. However, we are currently conducting a structural audit to see the stability of the hoardings,” said the public relations officer. 

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