Various civic bodies spur into action to ensure safety of ad hoardings

PCMC has called for rules and regulations in place by stating that the advertisers and landowners should check whether permissions, especially from sky signs and licenses department were obtained.

After the Mumbai hoarding collapse incident that claimed 17 lives and left 75 others injured on May 13, civic bodies in cities including Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Kolhapur, and Navi Mumbai have taken significant steps.

Greater Chennai Corporation removes 460 unauthorised hoardings

PCMC has called for rules and regulations in place by stating that the advertisers and landowners should check whether permissions, especially from sky signs and licenses department were obtained.

So far, 460 unauthorised hoardings have been removed. Out of this, 250 have been removed along with their structures as their height crossed the 30 feet limit.

Author Amitav Ghosh’s forewarning about Mumbai billboards comes to light post recent billboard tragedy

Post the incident on Monday, Ghosh took to X addressing the urgency of mitigating such risks. "The recent storm was nowhere near as damaging as a major cyclone would be. Mumbai really needs to cut back drastically on billboards,” he said.

Ghosh is known for his fiction and non fiction works highlighting environmental issues. In his book ‘The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable’, he had forewarned about Mumbai billboards becoming “deadly projectiles” during cyclones.