Three people have died due to trees falling on them across the city. One person died when a tree fell on him in Malad on Friday, while another person, who was injured in a tree fall on Thursday, died on Friday. Meanwhile, another tree fall in BARC Colony left a third person dead, bringing the toll so far to five since last month.
39 complaints on Friday
Over the past four days, the city has been experiencing strong winds due to Cyclone Vayu. The Hindu had reported there were 91 incidents of trees or branches collapsing on Wednesday alone. On Thursday, the Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received 100 complaints of trees and branches falling across Mumbai. On Friday, the cell received 39 such complaints.
On Thursday, a Gulmohur tree fell in building no. 19 of Takshashila Society in Jogeshwari at 11 a.m., injuring Anil Ghosalkar (48). He was admitted to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri, where he died at 4.30 p.m. Ghosalkar worked as a driver for one of the families in the building and was sitting on the premises when the tree fell on him. His body was sent to Cooper Hospital for post-mortem. “The society is old and has many trees,” said Nitin Alaknure, senior police inspector, MIDC police station. Since the tree was located on a private premises, it was the society’s responsibility to trim it. According to the BMC, it had issued a notice to the society on April 22 to trim trees on its premises. This is a routine exercise the BMC undertakes every year.
In a similar incident in Malad on Friday, a person lost his life after a Gulmohur tree on the roadside fell on him. The Disaster Management Cell reported that the incident took place at 6.30 a.m. near Nadiadwala Colony no. 1, S.V. Road. A branch of a nearby tree fell on a man, Shailesh Mohanlal Rathod (38). He was brought dead to Shatabdi Hospital, according to the Chief Medical Officer. “Rathod was a resident of Navbharat Society, Goregaon and he was going to the Jain Mandir near his house. On the way, a branch, which was broken, fell on his head. He started bleeding,” said sub-inspector Vijay Naik of the Malad police station.
In this case, since the tree was on the roadside, it was the BMC’s responsibility to trim it. Local residents had complained to the BMC about this particular tree as it was leaning to one side.
In another incident, a 43-year-old man died when a branch fell on him at Anushakti Nagar near the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at 4 p.m. on Friday. Baban Kute, senior police inspector, Trombay police station, said the incident occurred when the man, identified as Nitin Shiravale, was returning home from work on his scooter. “He used to work at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and while exiting from one of the south-east gates of the hospital, the tree fell on him,” Mr. Kute said. The victim was admitted to the BARC hospital, where he was declared dead after almost an hour of treatment.
The BMC had served a notice to the BARC administration to get trees on its premises trimmed. On May 8, it had allowed BARC to trim or remove dangerous trees.
