BMC sets up tree experts’ committee

Two days after a tree collapse crushed two persons, including a six-month-old baby, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced the formation of a committee of tree experts who will suggest changes in the way the city’s trees are maintained.

Two days after a tree collapse crushed two persons, including a six-month-old baby, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced the formation of a committee of tree experts who will suggest changes in the way the city’s trees are maintained.

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The committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday. This comes after the civic body had announced on Monday that it was considering implementing a policy to regulate work taking place around trees.

Deputy municipal commissioner (gardens) Suhas Karvande said, “This committee will be asked to suggest all-round changes in the way are trees are currently maintained. We will be discussing the regulations that need to be in place, especially for underground utilities, which damage tree roots while digging is undertaken.”

Karvande said that of late, most tree collapses were a result of damage to tree roots. Karvande said, “Experts we had consulted after Sunday’s incident felt that due to paving and concretisation, there was no place left for the roots of the tree to grow. This was the prime reason for its collapse.”

A committee member who did not wish to be named, said the committee would suggest changes in the system of pruning trees. “There have to be radical changes in the way our trees will be pruned. We have to devise more scientific methods,” Karvande said. “The committee will play the role of an advisor. Hence, we will be asking for their opinion on the way our trees need to be pruned to make the process effective.”

The new guidelines suggested by the committee will be applicable to private and government agencies, including departments of the BMC. “These include the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and BMC departments overlooking the roads and storm water drains and those that undertake digging on the streets and pavements. This committee will aim at drafting new guidelines according to which such agencies will have to work,” said a senior civic official.