After Kiwale tragedy, PMC demands structural audit of hoardings

As Pune is overwhelmed with legal and illegal hoardings, PMC asks for their structural audit

PUNE

In the wake of two hoarding-related accidents in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad – one of which killed five persons after a sky sign collapsed on them at Kiwale, Dehu Road – the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday reviewed the signage situation in the city and instructed ward offices to carry out a structural audit of all hoardings and flex signs in their respective jurisdictions. The development assumes importance, coming at a time when flex signs and hoardings, both legal and illegal, have swamped the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad skyline and are posing a grave threat to people’s lives apart from scarring the cityscape.

Additional municipal commissioner Kunal Khemnar reiterated that the PMC reviewed the hoarding situation in the city in the wake of the Kiwale accident. Nearly 2,629 sky signs were found to be illegal, and instructions were given to ward offices to take action against all dangerous hoardings, given the spell of unseasonal rain currently underway and the upcoming monsoon season.

“Against this backdrop, instructions have been given to all ward offices and sky sign departments to conduct a special drive in the city for the next 15 days. The PMC will first ask owners of all authorised hoardings to carry out a structural audit of these structures. Next, the PMC will focus on illegal hoardings. As these are illegal, there is no question of their structural audit. However, if these illegal hoardings are as per the norm and can be regularised, the PMC will regularise them on the condition that they do not obstruct the traffic or pose a risk to human life,” Khemnar said.

In 2018 too, Pune had witnessed a major tragedy wherein a 40 feet tall metal hoarding had fallen on four persons waiting at a traffic signal near Juna Bazar, killing them.

Khemnar said that last year, the PMC had appointed an agency to check the status of hoardings in the city and find the exact number of illegal and dangerous hoardings. “Though the PMC is conducting a drive against hoardings, there are more than 2,000 illegal hoardings in the city. Recently when the PMC began preparing for the monsoon, instructions were given to take action against illegal hoardings. However, following the Kiwale accident, the PMC took a detailed review on Tuesday and has asked ward offices to conduct a special drive,” Khemnar said.

Earlier this year, PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar, too, had instructed the PMC staff to submit daily reports which would be reviewed after a week.

PMC sky sign department head Madhav Jagtap said, “The PMC has taken action against many illegal hoardings. Till date, action has been taken against a total 953 hoardings. As instructed by the PMC commissioner and additional commissioner, PMC officials will hold a special drive now and carry out a structural audit of hoardings in the city.”

Whereas Sudhir Mehta, lead coordinator, Pune Platform for Covid-19 Response (PPCR) and former president of MCCIA, said that even if the hoardings are legal, the administration needs to urgently revisit the current sky sign policies. “It’s been a tragic couple of days in Pune, with two major hoarding-related accidents. The news of five people losing their lives due to a collapsed hoarding in Kiwale, Dehu Road, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), is extremely distressing. The current sky sign policies need to be urgently revisited by the administration, even if these hoardings were legal. The city is overwhelmed with both legal and illegal hoardings; not only are they a blight on the cityscape but they also pose a severe threat to public safety,” Mehta tweeted. The PPCR has been urging the city administration and political leadership to take swift action against proliferation of illegal hoardings and flex signs in Pune and is looking forward to swift and stringent action against this menace, Mehta said.