In May 2024, Advocate Aditya Pratap was invited to be part of the debate panel on Mirror Now. Anchored by Sneha Koshy, the show focused around the tragic Ghatkopar Hoarding Collapse in May 2024 that killed 17 people and injured several others.
Transcript of Aditya Pratap’s Interview on Mirror Now Urban Debate:
Anchor Sneha Koshy: Let me first start with you Mr. Aditya Pratap. You have raised complaints about this, I believe. You have in the past raised serious concerns about this even officially. Tell us.
Advocate Aditya Pratap: Well, when approvals become a game of money, all precautions etc., are thrown to the wind. I have appeared several years back in a case involving illegal hoardings in CRZ areas and that time whatever the outcome of the court decision was you know like the disastrous consequences of hoardings have not been taken adequately into account.
Now when you look at the development control regulations of Mumbai 2034, DC regulation 46 pertains to hoardings and DC regulation very clearly states that holdings especially those hoardings which stand on the ground should be governed by the national building code of India and as per national building code of India maximum height of a hoarding from can be 40 feet by 40 feet, maximum 9 m from the ground level and here we have a holding which crosses 33 m and moreover part 6 of the national building code of India which was also applicable places heavy reliance on wind data, turbulence data, you know what is the effect of the wind current on the hoarding because it becomes like the sail of a ship and it’s a simple principle of physics that force of the wind at the top of the hoarding will act as a lever but the point is for the money obsessed officials of BMC, there is nothing.
These are the same municipal officials who grant builders 20-30 times the normal FSI and allow them to flout fire safety norms this that, you think these corrupt BMC officials will care about holdings, not at all and moreover, if you look at it, that there are also stringent provisions on hoardings and this is a hoarding on a national highway where even the necessary NOC from the highways authority etc and when we look at the sequence of facts also, BMC says they issued demolition notice. Let me put a question to BMC. Such a huge hoarding, the size of a building structure.
Ward officials are very smart. They immediately know that something is amiss.
Anchor Sneha Koshy: Right!
Advocate Aditya Pratap: And they can they could have stopped the construction then and there. But fact of the matter is only when the entire civil society started raising a concern that they started dragging their feet to show that yes they’re doing something and by then this tragedy happened. What more can we expect?
Anchor Sneha Koshy: Absolutely. No, Aditya, I can totally understand where your anger is coming from and I don’t think anyone of us or any of our viewers can even, I mean everybody shares the same emotion as you are.
But if I can come to you at this point Aditya Pratap you have taken up these cases in the past. You don’t really see anything unfold with those cases. For a person who has been active on this field, for a person whose, you know, there are citizens who would be looking right now and be very shocked with what has unfolded. But then there are those like you who have been actively petitioning in these cases. You have been taking these cases up, before the legal system, before authorities, and yet you see nothing really unfold. What does it tell you? What what’s the takeaway for you?
Advocate Aditya Pratap: Well, there have been cases where like I have appear I appeared in the case in which, I had argued against you know illegal hoardings being put up in CRZ areas that no hoarding can be put up in a CRZ area without taking permission from the MCMMA whether temporary or even banners or billboards whatsoever. Then there have been cases in the High Court, where the High Court has come down heavily on the rampant proliferation of hoardings in the city. The BMC in 2018 even came out with a policy governing the type of holdings and you know, where it can be put up and where cannot be put up. But in all these matters the DC regulations have been very clear because that the technical specifications of a hoarding should comply with the national building code of India. However, if you see the 2018 policy document of BMC which pertains to guidelines for hoardings, not. It’s a 50 page policy document, one control F, the word wind is mentioned nowhere, that thing the BMC’s policy document on hoardings.
It just says you should apply for this permission that permission, that is the fees, this report, this recommendation and done just purely on procedures. There is no way to assess the probable to anticipate the impact of a hoarding. If I, let me tell you when we argue cases of environmental law there’s a doctrine called precautionary principle. That is if a person wants to do any project the onus of proof is against him. He cannot say that my project will not affect the environment. No, your project is presumed and deemed to have an adverse impact unless you demonstrate to the contrary. But clearly no such yard stick was applied to these hoardings. Then there is there is one more important legal doctrine which is applicable. Doctrine of public trust wherein the municipal corporation and the others, other strategy authorities be it railways, all those who engage in the blame game and passing the buck they are trustees of, they are vested with the public trust, they are trustees of public assets. They are to ensure that the right to life of people is to be protected and they’re not to consider public interest like a balance sheet but however you know ultimately how much can Courts do. Courts keep passing after after orders, let me tell you for a fact that, today the public officials who are in Maharashtra, they don’t even care for court orders even if the Bombay High Court passes a judgment. Jabtak Maharashtra Government uss judgement par circular nahi nikalegi, tab tak ye log judgement ko bhi nahi maante hain.
Anchor Sneha Koshy: Okay, All right. Thank you very much for taking up the time giving us some very important insights. Aditya Pratap, thank you so much. I do hope that you will keep your activism alive.