Chargesheet Flags Ignored Soft Soil Warning

Mumbai: An excavator operator had warned that the place in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar where a 120 ft x120 ft hoarding was being planned had soft soil, but this was ignored. Sixteen months later, the massive billboard came crashing down during a storm, killing 17 people and injuring 74 others.

In its 3,299-page chargesheet filed in a Mumbai court, the Special Investigation Team of Mumbai Crime Branch has also pointed to the alleged collusion of top officials in Government Railway Police (GRP), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Ego Media Private Limited that set the stage for the May 13 tragedy.

According to the chargesheet, an excavator was at work to set up the huge billboard when a tree fell. The operator sensed soft soil and recommended a soil check so that building plans can be accordingly tweaked to ensure stability of the huge structure. This check would have taken 15 days.

But Ego Media director Bhavesh Bhinde and former director Jahnavi Marathe were in no mood to wait. They ignored the warning and proceeded without a soil check, the chargesheet has said. This alleged negligence, police have said, can be considered one of the reasons behind the illegal billboard crashing during the storm. The excavator operator is among more than 100 witnesses whose statements feature in the police chargesheet.

The chargesheet also raises serious allegations against IPS officer Quaiser Khalid — Khalid is former GRP Commissioner and approval for the hoarding was granted during his tenure — and BMC licence inspector Sunil Dalvi. The plot where the hoarding came up was leased to the GRP, and Khalid allegedly used gaps in law to award the hoarding to Ego Media without a tender process. He has now been suspended. Dalvi, on the other hand, issued a notice to Ego Media over the illegal hoarding, but withdrew it later. His continued contact with Bhinde raised questions.

The chilling crash of the hoarding, which was so big that it made it to the Limca Book of Records, put the spotlight on how rules were being bent and public safety ignored while granting approval to illegal hoardings in the Maximum City. According to rules, the maximum size of hoardings is 40 ft x 40 ft, but the Ghatkopar billboard was thrice the size.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has told the assembly that there are a total of 1,025 hoardings in BMC areas and none of them are illegal. He has said hoardings at Railway authority’s land are not erected after taking permission from BMC. According to a BMC survey, 99 out of 306 hoardings at Railway authority’s land in Mumbai are bigger than the maximum permitted size.