BMC to prop up fallen trees, tend to sick ones

In the wake of deaths caused by falling trees, civic body to put horticulturalists on the job of rescuing the 226 feeble ones and replanting uprooted trees

BMC to prop up fallen trees, tend to sick ones

In the wake of deaths caused by falling trees, civic body to put horticulturalists on the job of rescuing the 226 feeble ones and replanting uprooted trees

With the threat that ailing and brittle trees pose to the city's inhabitants and its green cover, the civic body has decided to attend to the task of reinvigorating them.

A woman and her six-month old had lost their lives
when this tree fell on them at Nariman Point
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The BMC would now replant the tress that collapse, and rejuvenate those that run the risk of falling down or getting uprooted on the basis of expert recommendations.

During this monsoon, the city has witnessed many accidents due to falling trees. According to a BMC survey, there are 226 trees in the city on the verge of collapsing and they need to be attended by horticulturists.
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Furthermore, a total of 980 trees have already fallen since the start of the monsoon.

"There are 30 vulnerable trees in F North ward and 24 in L Ward and have to be inspected by experts.
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Horticulturalists would give inputs as to what can be done to prevent trees from falling down," said Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Gardens) Suhas Karvande.
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He added that although it is technically impossible to transplant all uprooted trees, they would still try.

An official on condition of anonymity said, "It is impossible to save all the trees but the officials would have to work at it. Horticulturalists will have to carry out a survey to study trees on the verge of collapse."

Following the collapse of a giant old tree in Nariman Point on July 18, which crushed a six-month-old and a his mother to death, Mayor Shraddha Jadhav called for a meeting between the additional municipal commissioner, the fire brigade and the garden department yesterday.u00a0

At the meeting, it was decided that the civic authority would try and save infirm trees. Those that collapse would be replanted in the same location or at a garden elsewhere.

Chief Fire Officer A N Shinde said, "We have been told to only trim branches of a fallen tree without causing more damage to it. We have to keep the trunk intact and keep it on the side of the road."

980
The number of trees that have collapsed so far this year owing to heavy rains

108
The disaster management helpline, on which citizens can call and inform the BMC about perilous and ailing trees

Dainty dividers too
At the Tuesday meeting of the BMC, it was decided that the garden department would beautify the city's dividers by planting trees and shrubbery along them.
MiD DAY had reported ('Dividers come between advertisers and BMC', May 10) about the shabby condition of dividers at various parts in the suburbs. Now the BMC would maintain and spruce them up at the ward level. The assistant garden officers would plant and tend to the trees and shrubs on dividers. "It would now be mandatory for ward level garden officers to beautify the dividers," said the official.