Hoarding Collapse: PCMC Suspends Advertisements Amid Unseasonal Rain Warnings

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has decided not to continue granting hoarding permits for the next two months due to the predicted unseasonal rain and strong winds in the days ahead. The civic organisation has instructed all hoarding owners to abstain from placing any advertisements on their hoardings from April 15 to June 15. The purpose of this safety precaution is to avoid mishaps brought on by hoarding collapses during inclement weather. The city body's sky signs and licensing department has issued directives requesting that all hoardings be kept unoccupied for the next two months. According to the officials, hoarding owners have been instructed to conduct an inspection and, if required, make repairs right away. Following verification, the proper locking systems ought to be installed to secure hoardings.

There is a significant risk of hoarding collapses during the pre-monsoon season due to strong winds. Hoardings must be unoccupied from April 15 to June 15 as a precaution. This measure is being taken for the first time to protect the public. Any damaged structures must be fixed right away, stated PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh.

The advertising firms brought up a number of complaints during a recent meeting between hoarding owners and local officials. It is stated that a number of hoarding structure certificates are given out in a "copy-paste" manner without a thorough structural evaluation. State laws requiring precise measurements, height, and structural stability inspections are frequently disregarded. Banners larger than thirty feet by forty feet and hoardings taller than forty feet are allegedly uncontrolled.

Additionally, a lot of hoardings fail to post size and ownership information on the required 4x3-foot display boards.

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The complaints included the difficulties faced by hoarding operators from the revenue, garden, and zonal offices, as well as the lack of attention to complaints sent via email and WhatsApp. Officials promised that a separate meeting would be held shortly to resolve these issues.

Officials said the PCMC required structural stability certificates from the College of Engineering, Pune, for new hoardings after the Kiwale disaster on April 17, 2023, in which an illegal hoarding fell, killing five workmen. Following the incident, more than 17,000 unlawful hoardings were destroyed throughout the city by the PCMC. The sky signs department presently only considers about 1400 hoardings to be authorised. Even though rules have been more stringent following the accident, hoarder owners continue to commit the same infractions.