A giant “unauthorised” hoarding of actor Vijay, installed by his fans, came crashing on an SUV injuring its driver on Sunday afternoon on Rajiv Gandhi Salai opposite Masudi Koil Street in Tiruporur near here. The hoarding put up to publicise the actor’s latest film Mersal was 28-feet high.
The incident comes barely days after the Madras High Court imposed a ban on erecting cut-outs, hoardings and flex boards for living persons.
Revenue Department officials have submitted a report on the accident to Chengalpet Sub Collector V.P. Jeyaseelan. “We did not give permission for the banner. It is unauthorised. We have taken action,” Mr. Jeyaseelan told The Hindu.
According to eyewitness accounts, the hoarding collapsed at around 2.30 p.m. and fell with a loud thud on an SUV that was passing by. E. Devanathan, 38, a resident of Muthumaariamman Koil Street, Aadhi Nagar in East Tambaram, sustained bleeding injuries on his head in the accident. His family members, who were in the vehicle, sustained minor injuries.
M. Isravel, a motorist who rushed to rescue the occupants, said a driver of another vehicle behind the SUV managed to manoeuvre his vehicle to safety, preventing a major accident. “Other occupants escaped miraculously because the driver of the vehicle coming behind it did not ram it,” said Mr. Isravel.
“The hoarding was not fixed properly. The traffic police should have objected to such huge flex boards that pose a risk to motorists and pedestrians,” he said.
Murugan, an artist from Puducherry who designed the hoarding, said fans of Vijay from suburban Chennai had approached him to create a 30-feet tall hoarding for Mersal. “I demanded a fee of ₹30,000. They requested me to reduce it to ₹28,000. So we reduced the height to 28-feet just to cut cost. Names of eight fans were included in the hoarding,” he said.
K. Prabhakaran, one of the fans whose name was on the hoarding, claimed they were instructed by Mr. Vijay to remove all hoardings based on the direction of the High Court a few days ago. “But we thought our district-level functionaries (of fans association) would have received permission for the hoarding,” he said.
According to estimates by officials in Chennai and suburbs, fewer than 100 hoardings have received a valid licence in the metropolitan area. However, many hoardings have been erected in the city spanning 426 sq km without licence from the Chennai Corporation.
Officials of Chennai Corporation said they had been regulating unauthorised hoardings since August 30, 2016, the day the powers were transferred from the Chennai Collectorate to the Chennai Corporation. “We will regulate hoardings to prevent accidents during cyclones. Unauthorised hoardings increase the risk to lives during the period between October and January when Chennai experiences cyclones. We should be careful,” said an official of Chennai Corporation.
The erection of hoardings and banners is being regulated in the State as per the provisions of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920, the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994, the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971, the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Licensing of Hoardings and Levy and Collection of Advertisement Tax Rules, 2003, and the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (permission for erection of digital banners and placards) Rules 2011. Whoever contravenes the provisions of the Act or rule shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to ₹10,000 or with both, said officials.