NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the authorities in Mumbai to ensure that no untoward incident relating to hoardings should takes place in the city considering that monsoon season has arrived, in view of Ghatkopar tragedy in Mumbai, in which 17 people lost their lives and several others were injured.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and P B Varle issued the direction while hearing a case filed by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) regarding the applicability of certain provisions of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act to hoardings erected on Railways' land.
The court fixed the matter for further hearing to next week.
"In the meanwhile, all the parties concerned, including the Railways, ensure that no untoward incident happens in connection with any hoardings, be it on Railway land or on anywhere. So whoever is in charge of whichever land, please see that nothing happens atleast within a week, now that the monsoons have arrived," the bench said in its order on Friday.
During the hearing, the bench referred to the collapse of a 250-tonne illegal hoarding in Ghatkopar, Mumbai on top of a petrol pump, following a dust storm and heavy rains in the city on May 13, 2024. The incident claimed lives of 17 people, and left several others injured.
As per reports, the pillar which supported the Ghatkopar hoarding had a weak foundation and the size of hoarding was 120120 sq feet (instead of the permitted size 4040 sq ft).
The court noted as per newspaper reports, the accused in the Ghatkopar incident, Bhavesh Bhide, was not initially available but was apprehended later by the police, and found to have antecedents relating to the erection of illegal boardings/structures registered by Mumbai authorities against Bhide and others.
A case under Sections 304 (Voluntarily causing hurt), 337 (Doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life, 338 (Punishment for negligent act) and 34 (Common Intention of committing crime) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered by the Mumbai Police in the case.
