Pune Rains: Over 120 Trees Fall in City Due to Winds Since May 1, Residents Blame PMC

The incidents of tree falling and uprooting due to pre-monsoon showers and heavy winds continued on Saturday. Thirty such incidents were reported from various areas including Lohegaon, Dhole Patil Road, Padmavati Pumping Station, Sahkar Nagar, Aundh, Guruwar Peth, NIBM Road, and others. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

In a relief from the scorching heat, Pune has been experiencing heavy rains over the past few days. However, incidents of tree felling have also been reported in various parts of the city due to this weather.

A day earlier, Punekars accused the Pune Municipal Corporation of neglecting tree trimming ahead of the monsoon season.

Amit Abhyankar, a resident of Sahkar Nagar, told Free Press Journal, “We have reached out to PMC many times asking them to conduct tree audits. We have pointed out many overgrown trees which are likely to fall during rains and strong winds. PMC does the tree trimming just for the namesake, citing various issues like shortage of manpower and equipment. The overgrown trees become too heavy and they lean towards the road, and the imbalance leads to such incidents. Yesterday only two trees in my area fell. We have run pillar to post, but our issues remain the same; it's falling on deaf ears.”

Fifty-four tree falls were reported across Pune city on Thursday and Friday, with a total of 96 incidents in the past two weeks from May 1 to May 10.

Meanwhile, The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted that the polling day in Pune, Maval and Shirur Lok Sabha constituencies will be marred by heavy rains accompanied by lightning. According to the latest IMD release, with orange alert in place, a partly cloudy sky with development of thunder, lightning and rain is likely on May 12 and 13.