Congress leader calls Chembur tree-fall report ‘incomplete’, penalties ‘symbolic’

In a letter to the civic administration, Azmi said the report fails to establish why a mature peepal tree near Diamond Garden in Chembur had toppled onto a school bus, leading to the death of 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastava

MUMBAI: Congress group leader in the BMC, Ashraf Azmi, has called the inquiry committee’s report on the June 30 Chembur tree collapse “legally unsustainable”, calling for a fresh investigation by an independent, multi-disciplinary panel.

Mumbai, India. June 30, 2026 - Vihan Srivastav, an 11-year-old student, died, and four other children were injured when a large tree collapsed onto their school bus on Road No 11 in Chembur, Mumbai, India. June 30, 2026. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

In a letter to the civic administration, Azmi said the report fails to establish why a mature peepal tree near Diamond Garden in Chembur had toppled onto a school bus, leading to the death of 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastava.

Azmi’s letter comes two days after the BMC accepted the report, which gave the civic roads and garden departments a clean chit and imposed a collective ₹7-lakh penalty on the contractor and consultant building a storm-water drain near the tree.

“The life and safety of Mumbai’s citizens, particularly schoolchildren, cannot be compromised by incomplete inquiries or symbolic penalties,” said Azmi in his letter.

The inquiry committee had pointed to lapses in the excavation work close to the tree but said heavy rainfall and strong winds could have also contributed to the tree collapsing.

Azmi argued that the report relies on “probable” causes rather than establishing precise reasons through scientific investigation. He said the inquiry did not undertake a root cause analysis, geotechnical assessment, structural root examination, underground root mapping or any forensic study to determine how the excavation affected the tree’s stability.

He also questioned why civic officials were not held accountable despite the committee acknowledging that the garden department had repeatedly warned the roads department about the risks posed to the tree during the stormwater drain project.

According to Azmi, the inquiry should have identified which officials had ignored these warnings, permitted excavation within the tree’s critical root zone and supervised or certified the work instead of simply recommending penalties against the contractor and consultant.

The Congress leader alleged that the report had “illegally” exonerated the roads and garden departments based on mere correspondence exchanged between them. He said communication cannot absolve statutory authorities of their responsibility to ensure the protection of roadside trees during infrastructure work.

Azmi criticised the inquiry committee for not recommending departmental action against engineers, supervisory officers and officials from the roads, stormwater drains and garden departments, despite acknowledging that prior warnings existed before the accident.

Questioning the penalties imposed on the contractor and consultant, he said the report did not explain the contractual provisions under which the fines were calculated or assess the extent of negligence, financial loss or risk to human life.

While welcoming the recommendation to formulate an SOP for work near trees, Azmi said this would be meaningless unless backed by inspections, third-party audits, digital monitoring, independent certification and strict disciplinary and criminal action when negligence is established.

The Congress leader has also urged the BMC to place the complete inquiry report, inspection records, photographs, excavation drawings, technical opinions and contractor compliance reports in the public domain.