A 64-year-old senior citizen died after a tree fell on him when he was standing in a queue outside of a bank in Airoli to withdraw money. While the incident happened on Monday morning, the person died while recuperating at Dr. D Y Patil hospital on the same night. The two others also received minor injuries.
The deceased identified as Baderam Vitthal Patil, a resident of sector 20 in Airoli. According to police, the incident happened around 10:30 AM when Patil was standing in a queue outside of Abhyudaya Bank in sector 17 in Airoli. “A tree over the divider of the road fell suddenly and Patil received injuries in his head from the branches of the tree,” said Yogesh Gawade, the senior police inspector from Rabale police station.
Gawade informed that Patil was immediately taken to Dr D Y Patil hospital in Nerul for medical assistance. However, Patil had received severe injuries in head and while recuperating he died in the hospital. He was survived by his wife and a daughter. The Rabale police filed an accidental death report.
Meanwhile, Gawade has written to the Garden Department of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation to trim trees and also cut which is dangerous in the area.
Vijay Kamble, Superintendent of Garden department for Koparkhairane to Digha area of NMMC said that they had uprooted three dangerous trees and also trimmed trees on 22 May. “We carry out tree trimming on a regular basis during the monsoon. We had cut three dangerous trees along the stretch where the tree fell on Monday morning,” said Kamble. He added that the tree was in good condition and due to strong wind, it fell.
This year, because of the outbreak of the COVID-19, the monsoon related work delayed. Even, the civic body had to extend the deadline twice. Since the onset of the monsoon, tree falling incidents are being reported from across the city. In the last two days, 30 trees falling incident have been reported from across the city including 11 trees on Monday. Rajeev Mishra, a city-based civic activist said that this is sheer negligence of the civic administration. “People are already dying of Corona and now a senior citizen died because of civic body’s negligence,” said Mishra. He added that the local body got enough time to tree trim and complete monsoon preparation. “It seems the civic body is waiting for something worse to happen,” added Mishra.
