Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The dread incident of hoarding in Mumbai has sent shivers in all over Maharashtra. Taking a cue from it, the vehicle owners and pedestrians are demanding immediate action against the agencies connected to the hoardings to evade untoward incidents as the monsoon is fast approaching.
Meanwhile, to provide relief, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) has decided to conduct spot inspections of the hoardings.
The newspaper spotted one major size hoarding (of 40 x 80 feet) which is close to the traffic signal at Seven Hills Square. The size seems to be beyond the permissible limit. The weight of it would be around 40 tons. Hence there is no guarantee that the hoarding would stay intact and not collapse in the stormy weather. Meanwhile, the agency claims that it would not collapse but would bend slightly.
There are many illegal hoardings on important roads. There could be around 25-30 in number, but the civic administration is not aware of their locations.
It has been observed that agencies violate the norms in a tricky way. They obtain permission to erect small hoardings from CSMC, but in reality, they erect big hoardings. The CSMC does not verify this. Despite knowing the fact, the CSMC has not yet initiated action against violators.
The CSMC has earned a revenue of Rs 11 lakh from the hoarding agencies in the last year.
“ Acting upon the orders of the municipal commissioner G Sreekanth, we have conducted a meeting with all the agencies concerned and instructed them to submit stability certificates for their hoardings, while the architects on the CSMC panel will be conducting structural audits,” said the deputy commissioner Aparna Thete.