MUMBAI: The outdoor industry, an intrinsic element of Mumbai's skyline, has also suffered the consequences of the rains that battered the city this past week.

Hoardings faced the full wrath of the hard-hitting rains and gusty winds.
 
 

Some of the campaigns that were affected: HDFC, Indian Express, Zee TV's new show HouZee, Mukta Arts' new movie Iqbal (directed by Nagesh Kukunoor) and Hindustan Times.

Some hoardings were damaged by the strong winds, some tore and some came off. Mobile hoarding vans, on the other hand, had to stay put at the place they were parked at on 26 June for as many as four days.
 
 

An official from Bright Advertising said that since there was no transport, there was a delay in collection of the flex and hence a delay in putting up hoardings. "The Indian Express hoarding that we put up last week split open and has been spoilt. Also, we had a lot of difficulty in putting up a 40x40 hoarding of Zee TV's new show HouZee's at the Bandra flyover. We somehow managed to put it up, but it came loose and we had to put it up all over again. HDFC's hoardings in Andheri, Opera House and Santa Cruz were affected. Thankfully, the clients didn't put pressure on us as they knew the gravity of the situation last week."

Zenith Outdoor managing director Yash Gala said, "In South Mumbai we managed to change the on-going campaign of DNA during last week's rains. There were a few hoardings of Hindustan Times that we managed to change. But overall, we did not have any vacant sites as all our sites were booked in advance. The new campaign of Indian Express was launched. No major campaign was affected as such. We faced some problems in Bandra Linking Road and Mahim Causeway. We weren't working on Tuesday and Wednesday just like most others."
 
 

M'cons Advertising assistant consultant (outdoor) Mohammed Reza informed that three of their hoarding vans were damaged. "However, the damage was not too grave. We had to change the oil of our three vehicles, which cost not more than Rs. 6000 - Rs. 8000. There was no serious technical damage to our vehicles."

M'cons vans were repaired at the service center at Saki Naka (which was one of the worst affected areas). The water had affected the hydraulic system of the vans that prevented the lifting up of the displays. One van was stranded on the Bandra highway and the other two were near the airport.

The vehicles could not be moved for four days and the van drivers and other technicians had to work extra shifts.

The new HDFC campaign, which was supposed to be launched on 1 August was postponed by a day. "The client understood our problem and we have adequately compensated them because of the delay and also keeping in mind that we have to maintain a long term relationship with them," said Reza.