Mumbai Hoarding Collapse: Timely Redressal of Ghatkopar Man’s Complaint May Have Averted Tragedy

The lives of the 14 persons who sought shelter at the petrol pump in Ghatkopar could have been saved had the Government Railway Police (GRP) acted upon a complaint from a Ghatkopar resident in August of last year. Ghatkopar resident Salim Magbul Pathan used to pass the ill-fated Chheda Nagar Petrol Pump quite often and has even filled petrol there. When he noticed the gigantic billboards there, they reminded him of a Pune incident in 2017 that had killed four people.

Pathan decided to lodge a complaint with the authorities to have the billboards removed and wrote to all and sundry- from the Prime Minister to the local Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ward office. He received a reply only from the BMC, that the billboards were not under their jurisdiction and he should follow up with the railway police.

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One of the many letters that the BMC released after the incident yesterday, showed that the permission for the billboard was issued by an administrative office in Railway Police. Railways have denied any role in the incident stating that the land did not belong to them.

Letter Wrote on Hoardings

However, as the BMC in their reply to Pathan had said they had written to the railway police, Pathan even went to meet the railway police commissioner in 2023 personally. But after two-three visits, as he was not entertained, Pathan too lost the nerve and stopped pursuing the matter.

Pathan says that the civic body had warned the railway administration regarding possible incidents. "In the letter written to the Railway Police commissioner by BMC, the civic body highlighted that four advertisement boards measuring 800 × 800 were erected near the Petrol Pump in Ghatkopar (East)," stated Pathan. He further noted that the BMC acknowledged receiving complaints from public representatives and citizens regarding the dangerous nature of the advertisement boards, warning of potential human or financial losses in the future and the responsibility will be on the Railway administration.

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A Ghatkopar (West) resident, Pathan, expressed frustration, stating that the local ward office showed helplessness in taking action. He explained that the land where the hoarding is situated falls under the jurisdiction of the Railway Police Administration, and a writ was already filed in 2017 regarding the hoarding policy. “Any action, he was told, would be considered contempt of court as the billboard does not fall in the civic body’s jurisdiction," remarked Pathan.