GRP allowed Bhinde's firm to erect four illegal hoardings in 2021: Somaiya

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Friday claimed that the Government Railway Police (GRP) had granted permission in 2021 for four more illegal hoardings in Mumbai to the advertising firm involved in the Ghatkopar billboard collapse.

Somaiya said these hoardings have been installed at the Railway Police Colony near Tilak Bridge, Dadar.

Four more hoardings illegal permission was given by GRP Railway Police of Maharashtra Govt to Bhavesh Bhinde EGO Media in 2021 (sic), Somaiya said in a post on X.

Bhavesh Bhinde, director of M/s Ego Media Pvt. Ltd., which had put up the giant hoarding that collapsed in suburban Ghatkopar killing 16 people and injuring 75 was nabbed from Rajasthan and brought to the city early on Friday.

The illegal 125 feet x 125 feet hoarding, which stood on a piece of land in possession of the GRP, crashed onto a petrol pump in the Chheda Nagar area on Monday evening when the city was hit by dust storms and unseasonal rains.

Ex-MP Somaiya had alleged on Thursday that no tender process was followed for the Ghatkopar hoarding, and the government got virtually nothing from the contract, while Bhinde earned more than Rs 100 crore in revenue.

As per my information, three new sites were identified near the hoarding that collapsed, and 12 new hoardings were proposed to be erected. The entire tender procedure for these 12 hoardings is mired in irregularities. The tender process is for 10 years but the work order was for 30 years, he had claimed.