Two days after a hoarding collapse killed five people, the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC) directed that illegal hoardings be removed within three days and that structural stability audits be done within 15 days for 433 hoardings whose case is pending in the Bombay High Court.
The directions came at a meeting held by municipal commissioner Shekhar Singh with representatives of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Outdoor Advertising Association on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Indian Express after the meeting, Singh said, “It must be mentioned here that we have given 15 days’ time to those who have set up 433 hoardings to submit their structural audit certificates. These certificates should be from the empanelled structural engineers. The association representing these 433 hoardings have got a stay from the Bombay High Court against any coercive action. So our directives are within the purview of the court order. The court has given an order not to raze them and we will abide by that order.”
Singh said this was being done so that incidents like Monday’s tragedy would not recur. “We are telling them to get the structural audits done so as to ensure that a tragedy like the one that happened on Monday does not occur again. We have told them if there is a problem with getting the structural audits done, then they should remove the hoardings themselves. We have clearly told the association that public sympathy is neither with them nor with us. And there is a need for strong and decisive action in this regard to restore the public confidence in the administration. We will do everything possible towards that end,” he said.
The commissioner said that the illegal hoardings outside the purview of the court order should be removed in three days, or else the corporation would remove them and recover the cost. “We plan to start the demolition drive from Saturday,” he said.
