A 30-year-old teacher sustained an injury to her spine after a tree branch fell on her while she was riding her scooter at Gayatrinagar during the rain on Tuesday evening. The injured, Pooja, is in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital, and is scheduled to undergo a surgery on Friday, said her family.
Her father, Hanumanthappa, a retired KSRTC driver, said his daughter and wife had been to a temple and the mishap occurred while they were returning home. “She fell on the road and couldn’t move. She was rushed to the hospital, where they diagnosed her with a severe spinal injury. She hasn’t been able to move her limbs,” said Mr. Hanumanthappa
Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun visited Ms. Pooja at the hospital on Wednesday and announced that the civic body would bear all expenses for her treatment.
As many as 63 trees and 75 branches fell in the city during the rain on Tuesday. G.S. Srinivas Reddy, director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell (KSNDMC), said the rain was accompanied by high-speed winds, leading to large-scale tree-falls.
Citizens’ groups and activists argue that the figures indicate that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had not taken up pruning of tree branches and removal of dead trees despite conducting special drives. According to activist Vijay Nishanth, the forest division is understaffed: there are only 12 people including the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF).
“Further, digging up of roads has led to pruning of tree roots, making them more prone to falling,” he said.
DCF Cholarajappa was not available for comment.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday held a meeting to assess rain preparedness with BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, and Bescom officials and pulled them up for lack of preventive measures. He directed officials to take all precautionary measures to prevent any mishaps and inconvenience to citizens during the rains.
