Mumbai: Heavy winds, rain uproot 250 trees in a week

Posters have been put on trees, warning citizens against standing below them, as it could lead to major accidents

Strong winds and heavy rain uprooted 250 trees in the last two weeks. Around 300 big branches were also reported to have collapsed. Officials said that there has been a four-fold increase in tree fall cases since June. More than two-third incidents were reported on private premises. The BMC is appealing to citizens to avoid standing under trees.

In June, 113 trees had fallen across the city, and branches of 205 trees had collapsed. The cases have increased in the last two weeks due to heavy rainfall in July. Most of the tree fall cases are from private premises, as per the information from the garden department of the BMC.

"Almost two-third of fallen trees were on private land. Out of the total 356 trees that were uprooted this season, only 113 were on BMC land, ie roads and gardens etc. Rest of the 243 trees were on private premises," said an official from the BMC. Even out of the 514 incidents of big branches falling down, 286 were on private land, the official added. "Every year, most of the fallen trees are from private premises. We issued notices to over 9,000 housing societies to trim trees in their premises. Out of that, 8,300 responded and trimmed the trees before the onset of the monsoon," said an official from the garden department.

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"People generally tend to take shelter under trees during rain. The garden department of the BMC also put up around 5,000 posters on trees and walls, appealing citizens to avoid standing under trees. This can prevent major accidents," said Jitendra Pardeshi, superintendent of the garden department.

300
No of branches that collapsed during the past two weeks