Only Pre-monsoon Showers yet, but 27 tree fall incidents Reported in Thane

06th June, 2018

THANE: With pre-monsoon showers lashing the city, a string of tree fall incidents were witnessed in different parts of the city.

The civic Regional Disaster Management Cell officials claimed that over the past two days as many as 27 tree fall incidents were registered despite the city witnessing only 18.50 millimeter rainfall.

Six cases of tree branch falls were also reported.

Out of the 27 trees, three from Kopri and two from Kasarvadawli and Kalwa each were uprooted. While in most cases no injuries were reported, in one of the incidents an auto driver was injured when a tree fell on his autorickshaw parked near Bedekar Hospital at Gaodevi.

Pranjali Kelkar, resident of Ghodbundar Road, said, “I had a narrow escape on Saturday. I was parking my two-wheeler near Hiranandani Estate when a branch in the vicinity fell just next to me. Now, I have to think twice before parking my vehicle under a tree. In all these years that I have been staying in Thane I have never seen officials coming to supervise pruning of trees or let alone check the condition of trees. In the annual pre-monsoon work, ideally the civic body is supposed to survey every nook and corner of the city.”

Environmental activists have expressed concern over the rampant tree falls taking place.

An environmentalist said, “Last monsoon, one life was lost because of this very reason. The residents had told the officials about a tree tilting, but their complaints fell on deaf years. One would have thought now that the civic body will pull up their socks, but that is not happening. These showers have just arrived. I wonder what will happen when it rains heavily as there is a forecast of heavy rains over the weekend.”

 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com