In the wake of the Mumbai hoarding tragedy, the Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) has instructed all advertising agencies to submit a structural report of their hoardings installed in the Chhattisgarh capital, officials said on Wednesday. RMC Commissioner Abinash Mishra on Tuesday chaired a meeting of directors of various ad agencies and the corporation officials and asked to ensure that the Mumbai like tragedy should not happen in Raipur, a public relations department officer said.
Mishra instructed the directors and representatives of more than 90 advertising agencies to submit to the RMC within a week the structural report of their hoardings put up in the city, he said. The ad agencies will have to submit a certificate related to the structural probe to the town and country planning department of the RMC, the official said. The commissioner instructed that no untoward incident should take place in Raipur due to hoardings and all necessary measures should be taken to prevent billboards from falling, he said.A discussion was also held in the meeting on the effective implementation of the advertisement policy within the RMC's jurisdiction, he added.
On May 13, Mumbai witnessed a massive storm which turned into a tragedy after a huge hoarding in Ghatkopar collapsed killing 14 people. A 120-foot-by-120-foot billboard was situated beside a petrol pump at Pant Nagar on the Eastern Express Highway, which collapsed at 4.30 pm on Monday after gusty winds lashed the city. Most of the victims were either refuelling or seeking refuge when the billboard collapsed, and around 100 people got trapped underneath it. Bhavesh Bhinde is the director at Ego Media Media Pvt Ltd advertising agency responsible for erecting the hoarding at Ghatkopar. Bhinde and others have been 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. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has alleged that he has absconded with his family. Mumbai police is ‘working hard’ to track him.