48 tree fall complaints in 2 days of pre-monsoon showers, 3 injured

A total of 48 tree fall complaints were recieved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the two days of pre-monsoon rains in the city. June 2 saw the first showers lash the city wherein two people were electrocuted to death while heavy rains on Monday injured three persons in tree fall incidents, including a 35-year-old man from Malad.

The civic body received as many as 39 tree fall complaints during the four-hour Monday rain onslaught. BMC disaster management officials said a tree fall, Markandey Singh, is recuperating in the Intensive Care Unit at a private hospital.

An official from Tree Department of BMC said 90 percent of the trees were trimmed and the trees that fell might be the ones that needed trimming. "The monsoon arrived almost a week early. It is quite likely that the trees that fell in the western suburbs might have been the same ones that were remaining. We will have to check on it," said the official.

The tree falls were mainly in the western suburbs which added to the chaos in the city. "All the traffic comes to south Mumbai from western suburbs in the morning. And it rained on peak time so tree falls in those areas further led to problems," said an official from Disaster Management department.

Besides tree falling, waterlogging complaints were also reported near Dadar TT and Kabutarkhana, King’s Circle, Marol Maroshi Road, Vijayanagar in Andheri, Dharavi 90 Feet Road, and some parts of Malad and Kandivali.