The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Tuesday started the removal of unstable hoardings along the Eastern Express Highway service road. TMC said that notices were issued to the hoarding and property owners, and an inspection is currently underway to verify the stability certifications.
TMC has initiated a rigorous crackdown on illegal hoardings after an unauthorised hoarding collapsed in Ghatkopar claiming lives in May.
More than 70 vehicles, including cars, were retrieved from the wreckage at the site of a hoarding crash in Mumbai.
Not just Thane but as many as 15 cases of illegal hoardings have been registered in Maharashtra's Latur city, including 11 on a single day. The Latur Municipal Corporation authorities removed two hoardings and 15 banners from the city.
Ghatkopar Hoarding Collapse
The 120-foot x 120-foot billboard collapsed onto a nearby petrol pump in suburban Ghatkopar during gusty winds and heavy unseasonal rains on May 13 evening, trapping people and vehicles under its giant wreckage. As many as 17 people were killed and 75 others were injured in the tragedy.
Two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were deployed for the search and rescue operation on May 13 evening. The Mumbai Fire Brigade had deployed 12 fire engines and several other vehicles for the exercise. All these were withdrawn after the operation was over.
On May 13, Mumbai was swept by a dust storm and unexpected rainfall. The illegal billboard, towering at a height of 100 feet, collapsed on the petrol pump in Ghatkopar during the storm.