Escaping the hazard

14 people lost their lives on May 13 afternoon in Mumbai, when the city was struck by a sudden dust storm, and a huge billboard collapsed and fell due to the high speed of the wind, on unsuspecting passersby.

Media reported, a day later on May 14, that the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai did ask the advertiser to remove the huge (illegal) hoarding, just a prior, and if complied, it would have saved the fatal disaster.

Now, this oversized billboard or hoarding was not supposed to be put up in the first place. There are well set out SOPs and size caps on fixtures that can be laid out in the public space. Of course, it’s flouted with impunity by the concerned Babu’s of all the Municipal Corporations, across the country, which is a different issue altogether! The basic reason is greed. To earn some extra nickels, turning a blind eye to such blatant violations of the SOPs with disregard to existing policy resulted in several innocent lives being lost. Most probably, the culprits would go scot-free, thanks to the cumbersome process of the fact-finding committee, to ascertain fault lines, besides a web of (mis)administrative procedures. Such an ordeal is to continue in future also for sure.

Generally, all the municipal corporations/civic bodies have well laid outdoor advertising policies. In the national capital, MCD set up this policy in 2007, which was duly amended in 2008 and 2017. This policy was formulated by updating the Prevention & Control of Environmental Pollution policy, with the sole aim to reduce the cobweb and clutter of different types of billboards, signboards, festoons, posters etc. which are aesthetic eyesore to any city/town, and if left unchecked, are bound to create an ugly and dangerous situation (as in case of the Mumbai disaster).

During the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, the then LG, Hon’ble Shri Tejendra Khanna Ji, asked me to pay attention to such details and ensure compliance to improve the skyline and look and feel of the national capital for the many visitors from 71 different countries who were visiting to participate in the games. Marching with our motto of ‘Atithi Devo Bhavo’ and ‘Vasudevai Kutumbakam,’ it is always expected that the best be presented before the guests.

While closely monitoring the MCD from 2007 to 2013, serving as OSD to LG Delhi, to spruce up this aspect, a team of ex-defence personnel was deputed, and a separate sub-department was created in the MCD with full support from the then MCD Commissioner, Mr. Mehra, and the Mayor of Delhi, Ms. Arti Mehra. It’s on record that this team of ex-defence personnel did splendidly well to improve the skyline of Delhi by removing several thousand illegal hoardings from all over the national capital. Most importantly, the revenue of the MCD from billboard and hoarding advertisements improved manifold as the authenticity of each billboard on display in all municipal zones was thoroughly scrutinised and checked. Only those with valid approval, as per specifications laid out in the policy, were allowed to be put up. Thus, this issue was checked and regulated to a great extent.

To avoid repetition of such sad fatal accidents due to the collapse of oversized or illegal hoardings, like in Mumbai, it is mandatory that all municipal bodies in all cities and towns ensure a fair audit of the structural stability and strength of each hoarding or billboard in their respective jurisdictions, and avoid allowing any oversized billboards or signboards. This will also improve the overall revenue collection of the civic bodies by curbing illegal signage and billboards, for which the advertisement offices often make arrangements with the concerned civic body staff and share the booty among themselves at the cost of reduced revenue for the corporations and municipalities, besides posing danger to the lives of citizens.

The writer is a senior Airforce Officer with long experience in Govt of Delhi as the State Commissioner for Personnel with Disabilities (Jan 2021- Jan 2024), OSD to LG Delhi (2007-2013) and several other key positions in the Govt of India. Views expressed are personal