• By Vivek Raj
  • Wed, 15 May 2024 08:02 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has mandated all contractors and operators overseeing outdoor billboards to conduct a structural safety audit of hoardings, unipoles, and other advertisement structures in response to the recent hoarding collapse tragedy in Mumbai. The directive, issued on Tuesday, requires submission of compliance reports within three days.

On May 13, a 120x120 ft hoarding collapsed after a sudden storm in Mumbai, claiming 14 lives and leaving more than 70 injured. Following the incident, the MCD emphasised the urgent need for safety measures.

“In the wake of unfortunate incident of collapse of hoarding in Mumbai causing loss of precious lives on May 13, 2024 all the advertisers empaneled with the advertisement department of the corporation are advised to carry out a structural audit of their unipoles and advertisement structures immediately and fix them off so needed,” the MCD order dated May 14 stated, as reported by TOI.

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Delhi's regulations on outdoor advertisements limit the size of hoardings to 10x5m for roads wider than 100ft, and 6x3m for narrower roads. However, officials note that in practice, most hoardings in the city are 20x10 ft, with very few exceeding this size, and the maximum permitted height for unipoles is 10m.

“However, in practice, most hoardings in the city are 20x10 ft, and there are very few hoardings that are larger, with the size that maxes out at 26x13ft,” a senior MCD official said.

Alongside conducting structural audits, the municipal body has directed officials to identify illegal unipoles and initiate necessary measures to avert potential tragedies.

The Capital also features wall wrap advertisements with a larger permitted size of 50sqm. These ads, explained an MCD official, are essentially films wrapped on the surface of structures such as multi-storey parking lots or buildings and do not pose risks to people or properties.

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The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is currently undertaking a crackdown on illegal hoardings, posters, signage, and banners, aligning with directives from the Election Commission for the Lok Sabha election. As of Tuesday, the civic body reported the removal of 2.9 lakh hoardings, 4.8 lakh posters or banners, 65,000 signboards, and 53,573 flags as part of this initiative.