Context

Recently, an  incident  where a giant outdoor hoarding collapsed in Mumbai in a widespread dust storm leaving at least 16 people dead and over 70 people injured has led to serious questions.

Fatal Instances of Illegal Hoardings in India

• Pune Hoarding Collapse: A hoarding collapsed on on the Pune-Solapur highway, following rain, injuring an animal.
  • In May 2023, again in Pune, an unauthorized hoarding collapsed leaving five people dead.
• Hoarding Collapse in Coimbatore: In June 2023, three workers were crushed when the huge hoarding that they were erecting collapsed at Thekkalur near Karumathampatti in Coimbatore district.

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Violations of Laws

• Policy Noncompliance: Although the policies provide for maximum dimensions for hoardings, many cities have billboards that are well beyond permissible sizes. 
• Scrutiny on Advertisement Regulation Enforcement: High Courts often haul up corporations for their inaction or lack of enforcement with respect to advertisement regulations. 
  • Previously, the Bombay High Court went so far as to provide the procedure for the removal of illegal hoardings, and directed that it be undertaken by two police personnel, accompanied by a civic staff member at the time of removal.
• Inaction  by Corporations: Despite a slew of orders since 2017, negligence by the corporation has resulted in a serious incident, leading to a flurry of action by corporations across India.

Way Forward

• Transparency in Advertising Policies: Insofar as transparency is concerned, advertisement policies must expressly state the process through which complaints against illegal advertisements may be raised and the action to be undertaken. 
• Prompt Enforcement Mechanisms: As far as enforcement is concerned, there is a need for a mechanism which ensures the prompt removal of unauthorised hoardings. 
  • The Delhi Outdoor Advertising Policy, 2017 requires that the owners of non-compliant advertisements be asked to remove the structure within a specified time, failing which they are to be removed by the municipal authority. 
  • The Bengaluru Advertisement Rules, 2021, with strong enforcement provisions, were revoked due to public opposition. 
  • The Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023 require the municipal officials concerned to review the licensing of hoardings every three months and submit quarterly reports to the chief administrative officer of the urban local body.
• Inter-Departmental Inspection for Unauthorized Hoardings: One mechanism through which a check can be kept on unauthorised hoardings is through the appointment of inter-departmental bodies which undertake periodic zone-wise or ward-wise inspection of outdoor advertisements to ensure that they meet the standards laid down in law. 
  • This will make periodic inspections a mandatory duty rather than a discretionary power of the municipal authority. 
  • Such enforcement and monitoring bodies may include relevant personnel from the traffic department along with zonal- or ward-level officers of the corporations and departmental safety engineers. 
• Course of Action for Unauthorized Hoardings: City-level policies or bye-laws must also specify the course of action to be taken by corporation officials subsequent to the identification of unauthorized hoardings.
• Enforcement Against Illegal Structures and Negligence: Action must also be taken against officials who fail to remove illegal structures despite complaints.

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Conclusion

The need is for municipal bodies to institute proactive enforcement mechanisms, instead of taking action only in response to either court orders or harrowing incidents such as the one in Mumbai last week.