Mumbai: The death toll in the hoarding collapse incident at Ghatkopar here rose to 14, confirmed National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) here on Tuesday. Over 70 people were injured in the accident.
The tragedy took place when the 100-foot tall billboard fell on the petrol pump at the Cheddanagar Junction amid gusty wind and rain on Monday night. The death of eight people was confirmed on Monday and Mumbai Police registered a case against the owner of Ego Media and others.
The owner, Bhavesh Bhinde, and others were booked under sections 304 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 337 (causing hurt to another person by acting rashly or negligently) of the Indian Penal Code. The case has been registered at Pantnagar police station and the investigation is underway.
Meanwhile, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a notice to the advertisement agency for installing the hoarding illegally and asked to remove the remaining three hoardings immediately for not having valid permission.
The Assistant Police Commissioner (Admin) had given permission for erecting the four hoardings on behalf of the Commissioner of Railway Police, Mumbai, including the one which collapsed on Monday, but no official permission or NOC was obtained from the BMC. The official said the land on which the hoarding was erected is the Collector land and it was in possession of the Police Housing Welfare Corporation of the Government of Maharashtra as per the property card records. The land was initially given to the Government Railway Police (GRP) for use, it stated.
On May 2, the BMC issued a notice to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Admin) of Railway Police to instruct the advertising agency about the cancellation of all permissions and remove the hoardings, a corporation official said. Though the BMC allows holdings of a maximum size of 40x40 square feet, the illegal hoarding that collapsed measured 120 x 120 square feet in size, the official said.
He said the work order for the installation of the hoarding was initially given in December 2021 by the then Assistant Commissioner of Police on behalf of the GRP Commissioner.
Ravindra Shisave, Commissioner, GRP, said the land on which the hoardings were erected is in the possession of the Government Railway Police, but the hoardings were erected at the spot before he took charge. He further said that GRP has already launched a probe about the permissions given for installing the hoardings. "Taking a serious note of the incident, an inquiry has been started to find out under whose authority the permission was given," Shisave said.
Govt announces ex-gratia
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the spot of the hoarding collapse incident in Ghatkopar late in the evening and ordered a structural audit of all hoardings in Mumbai city. "The hoardings, if found illegal and dangerous, would be removed immediately," he said.
"It is a very unfortunate incident. The government will probe it, and the people responsible will face action. I have also asked the BMC commissioner to conduct a structural audit of all the hoardings in the city. Those found illegal and dangerous will be removed," Shinde told reporters.
He announced aid of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each person killed in the hoarding collapse.
(With PTI inputs)
