3 dead in tree collapse incidents in Mumbai

Mumbai: Tree falls brought about by high-speed winds continued to wreak havoc in the city on Friday, claiming three lives in separate incidents. In total, 346 tree fall incidents have been recorded in Mumbai so far and the number of such cases has increased in the last two days.

The first victim, Anil Namdeo Ghosalkar (48), succumbed to his injuries at the Holy Spirit Hospital on Friday after a Gulmohar tree collapsed on him around 4.30 am on the premises of the Takshashila society, where he worked, the day before in Jogeshwari.

The BMC washed its hands of the incident, saying that the tree was on a private society’s premises and that the Takshashila society was informed by the ward office against trimming dangerous trees.

Around 6 am the following day, a branch fell on Shailesh Mohanlal Rathod (38) near Vijaykarwadi in Malad (west). He was taken to Shatabdi Hospital, Kandivali but was declared dead on arrival.

In the evening, Nitin Vishnu Shirvalkar, a 43-year-old Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) employee, died when a tree branch fell on him on the premises of the nuclear research facility. Shirvalkar was immediately rushed to the BARC Hospital where he was declared dead. The ward office has informed the BARC about the danger posed by trees on its premises, a Brihanmum-bai Municipal Corpor-ation (BMC) official said. However, the civic body said that trimming or cutting of trees on BARC premises is not allowed.

The civic body has put up boards instructing citizens to avoid standing below or near trees during heavy rainfall at 20,000 trees across the city.

Citizens advised not to stand under trees

The last two days have witnessed the falling of not just trees but also objects like hoardings and posters.

In the latest incident Friday, an advertising board collapsed near the depot in Thane city. Fortunately, nobody was injured in the incident.

On Wednesday however, an advertising board fell down outside Churchgate railway station, killing a 62-year-old man. In another incident in Thane, a big signal pole came crashing down on a bus at the Nitin Company junction near Eastern Express highway. Luckily, all the passengers in the bus escaped sans injuries.

Near the GST office in Mumbai’s Parel area, a 35-year-old man Rahul Saraf was injured when a metal rod fell on him. The man suffered severe injuries and is in a critical condition at the intensive care unit of Global Hospital, Parel.

The Indian Meteor-ological Department and disaster management unit have advised citizens to avoid standing below or near trees or any place where there is a risk of falling due to high speed wind. Mumbai and surrounding areas are witnessing windy weather with light to moderate rainfall this week as an effect of Cyclone Vayu. The authorities have also warned about flying objects.