Ghatkopar Hoarding Collapse: A video capturing the moments when a 70-meter billboard collapsed in Mumbai's Ghatkopar following heavy rain and thunderstorms in the city surfaced on social media. The incident took place on Monday. The illegal hoarding collapsed onto a petrol pump located at Ghatkopar's Cheddanagar Junction due to gusty winds. BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said that the rescue operation was delayed due to the active petrol pump.
On Thursday, the death toll in Ghatkopar hoarding collapse rose to 16 after the rescuers pulled out two more bodies from a car stuck underneath the structure, said an official of the National Disaster Response Force. The giant 120 X 120 feet hoarding had collapsed on Monday evening during gusty winds.
"The bodies of a male and a female were retrieved from the car struck below the hoarding in Chheda Nagar area shortly after midnight, the official said, according to a PTI report. The search and rescue operation is still underway, the official said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the next kin of the victims and vowed action against those responsible for the accident.
CM Shinde Has Ordered To Check All Hoardings: BMC Commissioner
Giving latest updates pertaining to the billboard collapse incident, BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said that CM Shinde has ordered to check all the hoardings and all the hoardings need a structural stability certificate. Expressing grief over the hoarding collapse incident in Ghatkopar, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said that it was a tragic incident and informed that the rescue operation has been completed.
"This was a tragic incident in which 16 people died. The rescue operation has been completed... Here is an active petrol pump, that's why our rescue operation was delayed. The CM has ordered to check all the hoardings. All the hoardings need a structural stability certificate. They need to follow the specification of size, foundation and the wind velocity which passes through to provide the necessary stability... Three more hoardings are being removed," Bhushan Gagrani said.