MUMBAI WOMAN CRUSHED AFTER 40FTTREE FALLS

MUMBAI: A 45-year-old woman was killed in Chembur on Thursday after a 40-foot Gulmohar tree collapsed on her. This incident raised an outcry from residents of Chembur, who blame the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for Sharada Ghodeshwar’s death. This is the fourth incident in 2017 and the second in Chembur within the past six months, where a tree collapsed and crushed a pedestrian to death. According to eyewitnesses, Ghodeshwar was sitting on a bench near a bus stop when the tree collapsed on her, killing her instantly. Shivraj Pandit, of the Chembur Welfare Brigade, said, “We had complained to the BMC about this tree at 10.30am on Thursday, because it had tilted dangerously. The BMC did not respond in time and the tree collapsed within an hour.” Soon after the incident, a team of civic officials visited the spot to examine the collapsed tree. The team concluded that the tree was healthy on the surface, but its roots had begun to rot. The decayed roots could not bear the tree’s weight. Harshad Kale, assistant commissioner from the M West ward, said, “There was no way to determine before hand if the tree was going to collapse because it looked healthy on the surface. The roots had decayed...” Environmentalists, however, slammed the BMC for negligence. Zoru Bathena, an environmental activist, said, “There are several cases across the city where trees are dying because of concretisation. It is unfortunate that a life was lost to tree collapse, but we must also question who killed the tree before it collapses.”