Who is responsible for the death of the four innocent people who were crushed under the hoarding that was being removed carelessly in Pune last week? Can anyone guarantee that such an incident will not happen again, if not during the removal of dilapidated billboards, when the hoardings that have not been not audited for structural stability for years, collapse? Considering how irresponsibly we function in the government and agencies, direct answers may not be forthcoming. The answers and actions will come only when we pressure the authorities.

Pune's incident is an eye-opener for the government bodies that permit hoardings and a lesson for other agencies like the railways that are accused of operating such revenue earners, putting human lives at great risk. And, as it happens in our system, a blame-game has ended in a tragedy that has ruined families. The railways have admitted that it hadn't taken permission from the local civic body. But, does that exonerate the civic corporation? Is it not responsible for checking heavy and oversized hoardings?