Stricter regulation, audits needed for hoardings

Just like tree audits, it is time for hoarding audits after the weather bureau has alerted to heavy rainfall

The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) held a meeting with hoarding agencies and directed its staff to pull down illegal, unauthorised hoardings to prevent a repeat of the Ghatkopar incident. Readers will recall that on May 13, 2024, a huge hoarding in the Ghatkopar collapsed following a cloudburst claiming the lives of 17 people and injuring more than 75 people.

Just like tree audits, it is time for hoarding audits after the weather bureau has alerted to heavy rainfall. The audits, in fact, must be done regularly given our changing and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. This is also an effective checks network as those booking and putting up these hoardings will realise there is an authority conducting inspection at any time, and they will be under scrutiny.

To weed out the rot in the system, those in charge need to get to the root of how illegal hoardings come up. How do these fly under the system’s radar and manage to come up? Are there loopholes in the system? Are individuals compromised? These are the questions that need to be answered and areas to be looked at.

We need to look at whether hoardings are unsuitable for certain areas and should not be there at all. If permissions are given, are the hoardings adhering to the size and weight that is allowed? Even internally, periodic checks about structure and hoarding strength have to be done.

One hoarding structure should not have multiple hoardings installed, as that is surely dangerous and a disaster in the making. Hoardings should not interfere with road visibility. Here, we even see small banners and posters at times, obliterating or interfering with views due to their placement. Take a tough stance on hoardings and a 360-degree perspective for all permissions to be granted and hoardings allowed to be erected. 

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!