Mumbai: 11 deaths in 5 days, over 100 potholes

Potholes on a Chandivli road; (right) two senior citizens lost their lives in Vile Parle when their balcony collapsed on Sunday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

The first heavy spell of rain this year has been deadly, claiming 11 lives in Mumbai in five days. Since last Saturday, six of those people, including a baby, died in four incidents wherein a house/part of a structure collapsed. And, with just a week of rain, the civic body is already acting on about 100 crater-related complaints registered on various platforms.

Three people died when trees or branches fell on them. Two were electrocuted in an underground drain in Govandi.

There were no deaths due to tree or branch fall incidents last year. This year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has so far received 434 complaints about felling trees/ big branches in the city. Out of these, more than 200 complaints were received since last Saturday. Around 150 trees were uprooted due to Cyclone Biparjoy in the second week of June. Nine people were injured in the three tree or branch fall incidents, all of which occurred on private premises. "We give instructions to all private owners to trim and take care of the trees in their compound. We provide assistance in tree trimming if they approach us," said an official from the BMC.

Two people died when part of this bungalow at Ghatkopar fell last Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde

'BMC's duty'

There are approximately 29.75 lakh trees in the city. Out of these, 15.63 lakh are on the premises of private institutions while 11.25 lakh stand on government land. The BMC had sent notices to 4,622 societies and government and private entities stating trees on their premises must be trimmed. But activists and residents sought concessions in tree-trimming charges.

Zoru Bhathena, an activist, said, "It is BMC's duty to maintain every tree in the city whether it is on private premises or in public places, through its tree authority. The BMC collects a tree cess, which is included in property tax, from every single property irrespective of whether or not it has trees."

He added, however, tree fall is natural. Trees fall in villages and forests too. So, the reason for tree fall must be checked.

Last monsoon from June to September 2022, the BMC received 1,374 complaints of tree falling and 28 people were injured. But not a single death was reported last year due to this.

Structure collapses

There were six deaths recorded in four different incidents due to a house or part of a structure collapsing. All were private properties or slums. A family sleeping on the wooden slab of their house at Ganpat Patil Marg in Dahisar West fell after the slab broke on Thursday around 4 pm. Aryan Pal, a one-and-a-half-month-old boy, injured his head and was taken to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivli where he was declared brought dead. In another incident, Kisan Dulla, 35, died after part of the toilet ceiling collapsed at Telugu Samaj Society in Ashok Nagar, Kandivli (East).

Two senior citizens lost their lives in Vile Parle after their balcony collapsed on Sunday.

Two people and their dog were killed when they got trapped in a dilapidated Ghatkopar bungalow on Sunday.

Two people were electrocuted while they were cleaning an underground drainage at Shivaji Nagar, Govandi.

434
No. of complaints BMC got about felling trees/branches so far

Open and shut case of Andheri subway

The flooded Andheri subway on June 28. Pic/Anurag Ahire

The subway closed at least twice on Friday after it was flooded with water from surrounding areas. The subway was shut around 9.30 am after it submerged under two feet of water. It was opened to traffic after an hour. It was again closed around 3.30 pm and opened at 4.30 pm due to the same issue. Local MLA Amit Satam who visited the spot said that there are five pumps installed at the spot to draw out water during heavy rain. On average, the subway gets flooded for around 15 days in a year during monsoon and closure at each time varies from 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on quantity of water. IIT Bombay has suggested four measures to rectify this and BMC is currently studying their feasibility and cost effectiveness.

Container hits Gore flyover

A height barrier under Captain Vinayak Gore flyover at Vile Parle broke when a container rammed it

In the absence of Gokhale bridge, vehicular traffic turned to Andheri subway and Vinayak Gore flyover in Vile Parle. On Friday morning, a container rammed into a height barrier below the flyover near Parle biscuit factory. The flyover was not damaged but the height barrier broke down.