Citizens say trees still leaning dangerously

Green activists are not entirely convinced with the BMC's Tree Authority's claim that it has identified and pruned all dead and dangerous trees in the city. They claim that the Tree Authority may have missed many potentially dangerous trees in the city, which may come down this monsoon.

Green activists are not entirely convinced with the BMC's Tree Authority's claim that it has identified and pruned all dead and dangerous trees in the city. They claim that the Tree Authority may have missed many potentially dangerous trees in the city, which may come down this monsoon.

HT Image

Members of citizen groups have claimed that their requests of pruning old and dangerous trees have not been acted upon yet. Last month, Nikhil Desai, 60, a member of F-north Citizens' Forum had written to the local ward office about two huge trees around Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) whose branches could potentially collapse during monsoons.

The Tree Authority is yet to act on Desai's complaint filed on April 21.

"These trees have bent towards the road and have blocked the entire footpath. I had flagged the issue last year too and the Tree Authority had taken cognisance. But, they did not prune it. So I had to write to them again," said Desai.

An official from the horticulture department of F-north ward acknowledged that Desai's complaint had been received. "We have seen Desai's complaint but have not yet forwarded it to the Tree Authority. We will forward it by end of this week or next week," said the official, on condition of anonymity.