The Garden Department of the BMC has started pruning of dead and dangerous branches of tall trees as part of their pre-monsoon work to avoid any untoward incidents during the rainy season.
The Municipal Corporation has appealed to the citizens that if any dead and dangerous trees / branches are found in their area, they should be pruned by contacting the garden department at the departmental level with permission so as to avoid any harm to life and property during the monsoon season.
BMC's Garden Department in-charge, Jitendra Pardesi, said, “To avoid damage of life and property we have started the trimming of the trees. There are total 30 lakh trees in Mumbai city, out of that 180000 trees are on the road, so the first target of the BMC will be to trim these trees and simultaneously we request the societies to trim any dangerous trees of the society with the permission of the BMC.”
“We have also started a survey which will be completed between 30 April to 15 May, through which we have trimmed 21,595 trees and have sent a notice to 5200 societies for trimming the trees in their premises. Also it is a request to citizens if they see any such trees which could be dangerous then please approach the BMC for permission and trim the trees. The citizens and societies can trim the trees on their own with our permission by contacting their known horticulture agencies or they can approach the BMC which has ward-wise specific charges and we can trim the trees for them or we can get them in touch with any contractors. The citizens can approach the junior tree officer of their ward and avail this service. We also have an app called MCGM 24x7 which can be used to contact the garden department for pruning the trees,” added Pardesi.
Last year when the extremely severe Cyclone Tauktae brushed past the Mumbai Coast, with wind speed reaching up to 114 km/hour, as many as 2,364 branches and trees were damaged in the city in the three days, from May 16 to 18.
In total, around 812 trees were uprooted, and 1,552 trees lost their branches. Moreover, the total number of trees that fell during those three days was higher than the total tree-fall incidents that the BMC records within the four-month monsoon season.
The BMC, on an average, receives 600 tree fall complaints a month between June to September every year.
