Recently a 100 foot high, 250 tonne unauthorized advertisement hoarding in Mumbai toppled over onto a petrol pump in the face of strong winds resulting in 8 casualties and 70 people being injured. Hundreds of such dangerous structures dot Goa's highways especially the Margao to Panaji stretch. Our state is similarly buffeted by strong winds and torrential rain during the monsoon period, luckily there have been no fatalities reported by billboard collapses in Goa as yet but the Mumbai incident should serve as a wakeup call to authorities in the state. Law enforcement agencies should identify and remove all illegal hoardings in Goa (I am sure there must be many ) and then order a rigorous structural audit of the rest. To maximize profit many advertising agencies compromise on the safety aspect by using low grade steel sections and poor design though they earn lakhs of rupees by way of renting out the billboards. Let's learn from our neighbour's follies.
