Remove all illegal hoardings in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra: CM Shinde tells officials

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said he has directed the authorities to remove illegal hoardings in Mumbai and other parts of the state, and asked them to register cases against those responsible for such tragedies.

He also said that he has also directed them to carry out a structural audit of all the hoardings, even if they are installed legally and have proper permission.

Shinde was speaking to media persons at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters after reviewing monsoon preparedness works in Mumbai.

Replying to a question about the Ghatkopar hoarding tragedy, Shinde said that he has already given instructions to remove illegal, and oversized hoardings in Mumbai, but in today's meeting he again asked them to pull down such illegal hoardings and register FIR against those responsible.

"To avoid a loss of lives and recurrence of such tragedy, necessary instructions have been issued," he said.

A giant 120x120-feet hoarding collapsed on May 13 in Ghatkopar area of Mumbai due to gusty winds and unseasonal rains, killing 17 persons.

He said that he has instructed the civic body to remove silt from the nullahs until the hard-rock bottom is reached and dispose of the silt elsewhere instead of keeping it lying on the banks.

"There will be cleaning of nullahs and the work is going on on war footings," the chief minister said.

When asked about complaints of water logging in Mumbai due to the projects executed by various agencies, he warned action will be taken against the concerned agencies, if they are found responsible for it.

Highlighting that they are targeting 'zero casualty mission' during this monsoon and all the agencies will work like a team to avoid any loss of life.

"If all the agencies work like a team, there won't be any loss of lives," the chief minister said.