The Gujarat High Court directed the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to inspect and remove all billboards that pose a safety risk during monsoon.
During the hearing of Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi said that incidents like the one in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, where 14 people died due to a hoarding collapse should not happen in Gujarat.
The High Court also directed the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner to inspect around 2,000 hoardings, banners, and billboards in the city and submit a detailed stability report of these hoardings and billboards.
The HC further directed that the inspection work should be carried out under the supervision of the Municipal Commissioner, creating teams. In three weeks, the estate officer will have to submit an affidavit regarding the entire inspection.
During the hearing, the government argued that as per the petitioner, there are around 100 such illegal and dangerous hoardings in the city. If the petitioner were to give a list of these hoardings to the court, then they can be removed.
The state also argued that AMC regularly checks the structural stability of hoardings and banners and there are no illegal hoardings in the city.
However, the Gujarat HC made it clear to the government and AMC that it does not want to take ‘any chances’ in this matter because it does not want a similar incident to happen in Ahmedabad like the one in Mumbai.
The petition in the Gujarat High Court claimed that across various areas of the city, including Sindhu Bhavan Road, Judges Bungalow Road, and Science City, hoardings, banners, and large flex banners are being put up illegally and without permission from AMC.
In an earlier hearing, the petitioner stated that these hoardings and banners pose a threat to the safety and security of the citizens. Especially during the monsoon season, heavy winds, storms and cyclones can cause these large hoardings and banners to fall, leading to serious injuries or death of citizens and commuters.