Senior citizen dies in tree fall incident in Kandivali’s housing society

A 79-year-old resident of Whispering Palms housing society identified as Vijaya Vijay Saoji, in Kandivali’s Lokhandwala Township, lost her life when a massive coconut tree fell in her direction during her routine evening stroll on Friday

Mumbai: A 79-year-old resident of Whispering Palms housing society identified as Vijaya Vijay Saoji, in Kandivali’s Lokhandwala Township, lost her life when a massive coconut tree fell in her direction during her routine evening stroll on Friday. The incident occurred in the housing society, raising concerns about the maintenance of the tree.

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Saoji’s grandson, Sagar Umalkar, said, “I was in the garden nearby with my son when I got a call at 7:30pm and rushed to the spot. She was bleeding heavily, and her vitals were bad, so we rushed her to the nearby City Hospital. The doctor declared her dead. We didn’t inform the authorities and registered the death as natural, as nothing could bring my grandmother back. We just don’t want anybody else to get hurt in the future.”

An official from the gardens department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that as the tree was situated in a housing society, it is their responsibility to maintain it. “A huge tree doesn’t fall just like that,” he said. “Now that it’s happened, the housing society should inform the tree authority about the incident, which they have not. We will visit the spot on Monday.”

Jitendra Pardeshi, superintendent of gardens, mentioned that an inspection and report would be conducted, and actions would be taken accordingly. Faiyaz Dhinderwala, the secretary of the housing society’s managing committee, explained, “The tree looked healthy with green leaves, but it snapped near its base, and it looked as though its roots had shrunk. We didn’t have any indication that this would happen. A previous incident of a tree fall happened four to five years ago, but no one was injured. There is a specific person in the committee who takes care of the gardens and tree pruning in the committee.”

Dhinderwala said that the committee wrote to the BMC’s tree department, but as of Saturday, no BMC authority had visited them. The fallen tree remains in place. Dhinderwala admitted that the base around the four palm trees in the middle of their compound is concretised.