55-year-old woman dies as old Peepal tree falls in heavy rain

Three more devotees suffered minor injuries in the tree fall incident. Locals claimed that they had given a letter to the Thane Municipal Corporation to trim the branches to reduce the load, however, the tree was not trimmed as per norms

Thane: A 55-year-old woman was killed after a 30-year-old Peepal tree came crashing down on a Ganesh pandal after heavy rain on Friday night in Thane. The victim, Rajashree Walavalkar was stuck beneath the huge tree for over 20 minutes before the rescuers were able to move the tree along with her 32-year-old son Pratik who suffered major injuries to his hip.

Rajshree Walawalkar, 55, who died and four others injured after a Peepal tree collapsed on a Kolbad Mitra Mandal's Ganpati pandal on Friday night due to heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, at Kolbad, in Thane, Mumbai, India, on Saturday. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo)

Three more devotees suffered minor injuries in the tree fall incident. Locals claimed that they had given a letter to the Thane Municipal Corporation to trim the branches to reduce the load, however, the tree was not trimmed as per norms.

For the second consecutive day, heavy rain lashed Thane city on Friday evening accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning.

Walavalkar had gone to visit the pandal along with Pratik, there were around 70-80 people present at the Kolbadcha Raja Kolbad Mitra Mandal to bid adieu to the Lord.

Raju More, a member of the mandal said, “There were many people outside near the tree, when it started raining heavily many rushed inside, thus moving away from the tree, averting major loss of life. The tree is 30-years-old and as tall as six storey, Walavalkar was stuck beneath it for over 20 minutes. Pratik fell on top of Walavalkar while the tree was above Pratik. She was crying for help throughout, around 70 of us tried to move the tree but it did not budge, few even got axes to chop the branches to reduce the weight, however still we could not move it.”

The fire brigade reached the spot, trimmed the tree and pulled it with hydra and JCB machines.

Avinash Sawant, chief officer of Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) in Thane said, “The incident took place around 8.00pm when due to the storm a huge tree came crashing down on the pandal. Few people had taken shelter inside to escape the heavy rain. Rajashree suffered multiple injuries, while Pratik’s hip and eyes were injured. Rajashree succumbed during treatment. Three more persons suffered minor injuries.”

The idol did not suffer any damage and the immersion was done after removing the tree.

Rajan Khanolkar, the younger brother of Walavalkar said, “It was years old tradition of Walavalkar to visit the pandal for its final aarti before immersion, this time turned out to be her final aarti as well. She had two children Pratik and Aishwarya, 25. Pratik is an engineer who works in a private firm. He was supposed to get married in December and my sister had begun the wedding preparations.”

She was a housewife, the family resided in Runwal Nagar, Thane and hailed from Kudal.

Local allege tree was not trimmed despite requests

A resident of Shrusti Society said, “The society had given a letter to the corporation to trim the tree, however only a few branches at the tail end of the tree were trimmed. The heavy branches at the top were left untouched, the tree buckled under the weight of those.”

Activist Chandrahas Tawade added that a major part of the roots of the tree was covered with concrete.

“In 2019, the then commissioner had ordered to de-concretise all the roots of the tree, this was never followed. Moreover, the wards do not get sufficient budget for tree trimming owing to which no contractor takes up the trimming job before monsoon.”

He claimed that the chief minister who had visited several homes for the festival should visit Walavalkar and also compensate the deceased and those who suffered injuries.

Ravindra Manjrekar, public relations officer, TMC said, “There has been a fatal incident, so we will look into all the allegations seriously. A detailed inquiry will be done in the matter to fix responsibility.”

On Thursday, two people drowned due to flooding in the city. This will be the third rain-related death in the city.

Increase in tree fall incidents in Thane

A rise in tree fall instances is seen this monsoon compared to the previous year, over 57% more tree fall cases were recorded by the Thane Municipal Corporation. Activists from the city claimed the rise in tree fall cases is due to a lack of efficient pre-monsoon tree pruning work.

From June to September, a total of 426 tree fall cases and 306 branch fall cases were recorded. Last year during the same time the cases were 271 trees fall and 172 branches fall.

Last year, the tree fall cases from January to December month were 628 and the branch fall was 350, while this year, the tree fall cases from January to September month is 540 and 400 branch falls.

-With inputs from Sajana Nambiar