340 ‘dead and dangerous’ trees pruned before monsoon: BMC

Three weeks before the monsoons arrive in city, the Tree Authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims it has finished the task of pruning the 340 trees that had been identified as dead and dangerous and posed a threat to citizen's lives.

Three weeks before the monsoons arrive in city, the Tree Authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims it has finished the task of pruning the 340 trees that had been identified as dead and dangerous and posed a threat to citizen's lives.

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The Tree Authority also said it was 10 days away from finishing its annual drive to trim trees on its property. Of the 11,629 trees that were marked for routine trimming, 10, 504 have already been trimmed while the 1,125 left will be trimmed by May 31.

"Junior tree officers from each ward identified trees that could potentially collapse. On the basis of their inspection and complaints from citizens, the Tree Authority reviewed these sites and approved the pruning," said Kamlashankar Yadav, superintendent of gardens, BMC.

Of the 340 dead and dangerous trees pruned, 263 are located between Bandra and Dahisar, 41 are between Colaba and Mahim while 36 are in the eastern suburbs.

Every year during monsoons, trees whose roots have weakened, inadvertently collapse and injure citizens and also cause road accidents. On July 18 last year, a 25-year old woman and her six-month-old baby were killed when a banyan tree fell on them in Nariman Point. Another 13 persons were injured in accidents related to tree collapses last year. In 2010, around 16,000 trees had collapsed.

"Pruning of trees around schools, colleges, offices, railway stations and bus stops is given priority owing to the high pedestrian density around these areas," said Avinash Kubal, former member, tree authority and deputy director, Maharashtra Nature Park.