Vendor, taxi driver hurt after tree falls in Maharashtra’s Tardeo

This year, six people lost their lives in tree-fall incidents across the city. Before the onset of each monsoon, the civic body takes up tree-trimming work in order to avoid tree-falls. It trims or clears trees from private compounds, public places and compounds of government and semi-government premises.

Two people – a taxi driver and a coconut vendor – were injured after a tree fell on them opposite Jariwala Building at Sane Guruji Road in Tardeo on Saturday morning. They were taken to the BYL Nair Hospital and are in a stable condition, a civic official said, on condition of anonymity.

Three other taxis that were lined up in the area were also damaged in the mishap. (Representative Image/HT File Photo)

According to the official, the incident took place at 8.30am. Masoor Alam, 46, is a coconut vendor who has been operating in the area for a long time and Sanjay Prajapati, 38, a taxi driver.

Three other taxis that were lined up in the area were also damaged in the mishap. “Fortunately, the other taxis had no passenger or driver in it. Considering the magnitude of the incident, a major tragedy was averted. As it is a market area, it is usually crowded in the evenings. Because the incident happened in the morning, the area was less crowded,” the official said.

The cause of the tree fall is yet to be ascertained. Arundhati Dudhwadkarm, civic corporator from the Shiv Sena, said “The trimming of this particular tree had been completed. However, we are still uncertain as to how the tree collapsed. The matter needs to be investigated.”

This year, six people lost their lives in tree-fall incidents across the city. Before the onset of each monsoon, the civic body takes up tree-trimming work in order to avoid tree-falls. It trims or clears trees from private compounds, public places and compounds of government and semi-government premises.

This year, the civic body had identified 492 trees as dangerous and prone to collapses. However, the contracts were delayed and the work orders were issued very late due to tendering issues.