Mumbai, July 15, 2026: In his second representation to the BMC Commissioner and the Mumbai Police Commissioner concerning the Chembur tree fall incident that killed an 11-year-old boy, advocate Hitendra Gandhi has challenged the premature exoneration of the civic Roads and Gardens departments, demanded registration of an FIR, and sought the fixing of responsibility.
He stated that only a summary of selected findings of the inquiry committee has been released to the public and not the actual report bearing the committee members' signatures and experts' notings.
Advocate Questions Inquiry
In his first representation, dated July 4, 2026, the advocate sought protection of tree root zones, de-concretisation of tree bases, disclosure of records concerning damaged trees, and a city-wide safety audit.
"Though the representation was internally forwarded by the Corporation, no speaking order or complete action-taken report has been furnished till date," Gandhi said.
The BMC's inquiry into the June 30 Chembur tree collapse placed the blame on the roadwork contractor and supervising consultant, recommending penalties of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, for lapses during excavation work.
The report gave a clean chit to the civic body's Gardens and Roads departments, finding no evidence of fault on their part and stating that the departments had communicated with the contractors from time to time, but the latter failed to take sufficient precautions. The findings of the inquiry committee were released on July 13.
Advocate Gandhi, in his representation, further stated, "The communication dated July 13, 2026, issued by the BMC Public Relations Department is only a summary of selected findings and recommendations. It is not the signed inquiry report. It does not contain the expert reports, statements, photographs, site notes, drawings, inspection records, file notings or annexures on which the committee's conclusions are based."
"The committee was principally composed of municipal officers and carried out a site visit along with a horticulture and landscape consultant. The communication does not show that an independent forensic arborist, root-failure expert, geotechnical expert, hydrologist, police investigator or any representative of the affected families participated in the inquiry."
He also stated that the conclusion is internally inconsistent. "If precautions were necessary, if the stability of the tree was required to be protected, if specific warnings had been issued and if both the contractor and consultant failed in their duties, the conduct of the municipal officers who supervised, inspected, certified and paid for the work cannot be left out of scrutiny," he added.
Political Row Intensifies
The findings of the report have also sparked a political storm. On Tuesday, Mayor Ritu Tawde rejected the civic body's internal inquiry as "unacceptable", while Leader of the Opposition and Shiv Sena (UBT) senior corporator Kishori Pednekar accused the administration of attempting to "suppress the truth and mislead the public" through the report.
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Meanwhile, environment activist Rohit Joshi served a legal notice on the BMC on Tuesday, giving it seven days to frame a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), survey vulnerable trees, and begin corrective action, failing which the matter will be moved before the Bombay High Court.
The notice alleges that over 1,856 trees have collapsed in the past two weeks alone due to root damage caused by indiscriminate concretisation around tree bases.
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