A total of 25 members of six families were trapped inside their homes at Sector 2 in Nerul after an old banyan tree fell in front of their houses and blocked their gates on Wednesday afternoon during the Nisarga cyclone. It took four hours for the fire brigade team to cut the huge tree into pieces, and rescued all of them. None of them reported any injures.
According to an official from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), a huge banyan tree fell at around 3 pm in front of six LIG houses in the area due to strong wind. Since the tree toppled outwards, it just blocked the gates.
“The tree was so huge that it completely blocked 6 houses and people inside their homes were trapped and could not come out,” said the official. He added that none of them had been injured as they were inside their homes.
Annasaheb Misal, the municipal commissioner also visited the site and consoled rescued persons as they were in shock. They were provided with food and other essential items that were necessary for them.
More than 500 people were rescued from different places in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. Most of them were residing in slums and due to strong wind, their houses got damaged. They were shifted to nearby schools and provided with food.
However, in Raigad district, two deaths were reported due to the cyclone on Wednesday. Nidhi Chaudhary, Raigad district collector informed that a 58-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy died in the cyclone. She added that Shreewardhan was the worst affected in the cyclone.
“We have already evacuated around 14000 citizens before the cyclone arrived,” said Chaudhary.
During the cyclone, a total of 83 tree falling incidents were reported across Navi Mumbai. As per the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), in Sector 21 of Nerul, a huge tree fell over a stationary car while another car driver had a narrow escape in Seawoods. The driver of the car had seen the tree falling and had immediately applied the brakes. However, while the driver escaped unhurt, part of the front end of the car came under the tree.
In sector 4 of Belapur, alert residents avoided a major accident after they alerted a passer-by after seeing a huge was falling near the temple. The huge tree fell over a shop. Similarly, a huge tree also fell in Jui Nagar near the Chincholi pond.
Considering the severity of the Nisarga cyclone, the NMMC had taken several measures and made preparations.
“Trees fell along the road were removed soon after the intensity of the cyclone came down,” said an official from the Disaster Management of NMMC.
He added that preparations had been made a day before the cyclone hit, and citizens had been alerted through announcements. Municipal Commissioner Annasaheb Misal kept a close watch on the situation and coordinated with all departments and constantly monitored the developments.
