The Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) filed a complaint against Guru Advertising, the OOH advertising agency. Earlier this morning, an oversized wooden hoarding collapsed at Sahajanand Chowk of Kalyan, the incident left two people with minor injuries and a few vehicles damaged. KDMC alleged that the contractor did not follow standard operating procedure to maintain the hoarding site.
According to Mahatma Phule Police station officers, KDMC had contracted the advertising site for five years starting 2021. One of the accused in the case has been identified as Rishikesh Dhule, the contractor. The Mahatma Phule police station is conducting the investigations and has registered a case of causing damage and hurt due to negligence.
Vijay Naik, Police Inspector of Mahatma Phule police station said, “We have registered a case under section 125 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), 125A (causing hurt) and 324 (2) (causing damage) of the BNS. The complaint was filed by the ward officer of the KDMC against Guru Advertising. There are 3-4 owners of the agency and we are investigating the matter.”
Former Member of Parliament, Dr. Kirit Somaiya visited the hoarding collapse site on Friday afternoon and met KDMC commissioner demanding an audit of all the hoardings and to pull down large hoardings violating norms in one week. He demanded that police officials should strictly deal with the offenders to avoid Ghatkopar like incident.
In May, the collapse of an illegal ad hoarding in Ghatkopar killed 14 and injured over 75, shook the whole nation. The illegal billboard was roughly 120×120 feet—nearly thrice the permitted size of 40×40 feet.
Ever since then, multiple cities in the country have been taking stringent actions against the placement, size, legality and structure of the hoardings.
Civic bodies in cities including Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Kolhapur, and Navi Mumbai have said to have taken significant steps, including penalties in many cases.
Marketers have come forward to check the bona fide credentials of the OOH vendors they choose to work with.