Mumbai was just lately rattled by an sudden extreme mud storm and rainfall on Monday. Including to the horror, a towering unlawful billboard, standing at a staggering peak of 100 toes, tragically collapsed onto a petroleum pump in Ghatkopar. The large board claimed the lives of no less than 14 people and inflicting accidents to 74 others.
Rampant Corruption
Upon investigation, it has come to the fore that the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Company) laws allow hoardings of a most dimension of 40×40 toes, whereas this illicit billboard far exceeded that restrict. It’s questionable how the BMC might overlook such blatant corruption involving a construction 3 times the allowable dimension?
Meet Bhavesh Bhinde – Man Behind Mumbai Board Collapse
Head of Ego Media Non-public Restricted, Bhavesh Bhinde, was the proprietor of the hoarding that collapsed. The large hoarding within the Ghatkopar neighborhood of Mumbai was put in by the corporate. On the Pant Nagar police station, the police have now filed a second FIR towards Bhavesh Bhinde and different folks for culpable murder that doesn’t qualify as homicide.
Ongoing Prison Prices In opposition to Bhavesh Bhinde
The state of affairs turns into much more regarding when contemplating the outsized hoarding and the unauthorized development, however what provides to the gravity of the matter is the current revelation that Bhavesh Bhinde was accused of rape in January of this yr, resulting in a case being filed towards him on the Mulund Police Station. It is value noting the puzzling undeniable fact that regardless of dealing with 23 prison circumstances, together with rape allegations, Bhinde has maintained a longstanding affiliation with the BMC.
Rapport Between BMC And Bhavesh Bhinde
Based on stories, Bhavesh Bhinde had secured numerous contracts from the Indian Railways and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) to put in banners and billboards by the years.
Bhinde, nevertheless, allegedly breached the laws of the 2 entities a number of occasions. Bhinde, together with different associates in his firm, has been implicated in circumstances which concerned tree poisoning and tree slicing. Bhinde had earlier managed an organization known as Guju Advertisements. This firm was subsequently blacklisted by the BMC due to a number of authorized points.
Bhinde saved getting contracts for hoardings and billboards even after being positioned on the blacklist.
Is the eligibility standards for BMC too lenient?
As per an official BMC doc, bidders assembly the qualifying standards might face disqualification if ‘they’ve a historical past of poor efficiency in litigation’. It might be naive to recommend that the BMC merely neglected 23 prison circumstances towards the proprietor of the big signboard, which tragically claimed 14 lives. This is a snippet of the doc:
Perception Into The Working Of BMC
Discussing the presence of worldwide corporations inside the BMC, Samajwadi Get together MLA and former Corporator Rais Shaikh as soon as remarked, “The BMC lacks a sturdy doc verification system. Engineers and officers face challenges in verifying home paperwork, not to mention these of worldwide corporations.” Moreover, former Congress corporator Ravi Raja, who beforehand served because the opposition chief within the BMC, has known as for motion, citing issues about collusion between BMC officers and contractors. He mentioned, “BMC officers are additionally in connivance with contractors”.
This was a really avoidable tragedy.
