Three trees crash on Pali Hill road, damage car; none hurt

The fallen trees damaged the compound wall, damaged a parked car and blocked Dev Anand Road for nearly an hour. No injuries were reported. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) later cleared the trees and restored traffic movement.

MUMBAI: A nearly 200-year-old tree toppled from the compound of Abhilasha Sadan, a seven-storey residential building at the junction of Pali Hill and Zig Zag Road, around 1 pm on Sunday, triggering a chain reaction that brought down two other trees.

Three trees crash on Pali Hill road, damage car; none hurt

The fallen trees damaged the compound wall, damaged a parked car and blocked Dev Anand Road for nearly an hour. No injuries were reported. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) later cleared the trees and restored traffic movement.

“The tree had been pruned around two years ago and was well maintained. We suspect strong winds and softened soil due to the recent rains caused it to collapse,” said George Verghese, secretary of the housing society.

Verghese said the society regularly undertakes tree maintenance and will now intensify inspections and pruning of trees within the premises. He added that another weakened tree in the compound had been cut down in May, leaving behind a six-foot stump in accordance with civic regulations.

Shamlata Bhatia, chairperson of the society, said she was saddened by the incident and estimated that the fallen tree was nearly 200 years old.

Bhatia added that two other old trees in the compound are leaning dangerously. “We will hold a meeting with residents and decide the fate of these trees,” she said.

The society has around 30 trees within its compound, and the tree that fell was located in the building’s garden.

Madhu Poplai, secretary of the Pali Hill Residents Association (PHRA), said the association, in coordination with the civic body, would begin a tree-trimming drive from Monday.

Poplai blamed the city’s ongoing road concretisation drive of artillery roads for increasing the risk of tree falls and called the work unplanned, saying that several trees could meet a similar fate. She said concretisation cuts off the natural water supply to trees and damages their roots by preventing water from percolating into the soil. “The trees are dying from within and will eventually collapse,” she said.

However, an official from the BMC’s H-West ward said that civic records showed only one tree had fallen and that the exact cause of the incident would be investigated. The official added that the BMC had taken proactive measures across the city to minimise tree-fall incidents during the monsoon.