Mumbai was not too long ago rattled by an sudden extreme mud storm and rainfall on Monday. Adding to the horror, a towering unlawful billboard, standing at a staggering peak of 100 ft, tragically collapsed onto a petroleum pump in Ghatkopar. The large board claimed the lives of at the least 14 people and inflicting accidents to 74 others.
Rampant Corruption
Upon investigation, it has come to the fore that the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) laws allow hoardings of a most measurement of 40×40 ft, whereas this illicit billboard far exceeded that restrict. It is questionable how the BMC might overlook such blatant corruption involving a construction thrice the allowable measurement?
Meet Bhavesh Bhinde – Man Behind Mumbai Board Collapse
Head of Ego Media Private Limited, Bhavesh Bhinde, was the proprietor of the hoarding that collapsed. The huge hoarding within the Ghatkopar neighborhood of Mumbai was put in by the corporate. At the Pant Nagar police station, the police have now filed a second FIR in opposition to Bhavesh Bhinde and different folks for culpable murder that doesn’t qualify as homicide.
Ongoing Criminal Charges Against Bhavesh Bhinde
The scenario 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 latest revelation that Bhavesh Bhinde was accused of rape in January of this yr, resulting in a case being filed in opposition to him on the Mulund Police Station. It’s value noting the puzzling proven fact that regardless of dealing with 23 felony circumstances, together with rape allegations, Bhinde has maintained a longstanding affiliation with the BMC.
Rapport Between BMC And Bhavesh Bhinde
According to stories, Bhavesh Bhinde had secured varied contracts from the Indian Railways and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to put in banners and billboards by means of the years.
Bhinde, nevertheless, allegedly breached the laws of the 2 entities a number of instances. Bhinde, together with different associates in his firm, has been implicated in circumstances which concerned tree poisoning and tree chopping. Bhinde had earlier managed an organization known as Guju Ads. This firm was subsequently blacklisted by the BMC due to a number of authorized points.
Bhinde stored 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 could face disqualification if ‘they’ve a historical past of poor efficiency in litigation’. It can be naive to recommend that the BMC merely ignored 23 felony circumstances in opposition to the proprietor of the big signboard, which tragically claimed 14 lives. Here’s a snippet of the doc:
Insight Into The Working Of BMC
Discussing the presence of worldwide corporations throughout the BMC, Samajwadi Party MLA and former Corporator Rais Shaikh as soon as remarked, “The BMC lacks a robust document verification system. Engineers and officials face challenges in verifying domestic documents, let alone those of international companies.” Additionally, 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 officials are also in connivance with contractors”.
This was a very avoidable tragedy.
