Tree branch falls on engineer

Monsoon has barely arrived in the city but has already brought with it the associated perils. A 27-year-old engineer, identified as Jacky Patel, sustained a head injury on Saturday after a tree branch fell on his head due to the windy weather when he was at his construction site at Warden Road.

"He was at the site when he was alerted by others to move away, but before he could do so a branch broke and fell on his head. Thankfully, his colleagues rushed him to Breach Candy hospital immediately and he was operated on. His company has also been kind enough to pay for the medical expenses," said his father Sultan (45).

Jacky is married and has an eight-month-old child. Dr Adil Chagla, the neurosurgeon who operated on him, said, "He was brought to the hospital within minutes of the accident. While he was initially conscious, he fell unconscious within half an hour. We decided to go for an emergency surgery."

Garden superintendent, BMC, Vijay Hire said, "We are not aware of any such incident. We will surely inquire about it."

Hire said for weeks before the monsoon, the BMC has been undertaking an extensive drive on trimming the trees at ward level. "We have appointed a contractor and have been trimming trees to avoid untoward accidents in monsoon," he added.

When asked about the concretisation work of the roads leading to weakening of roots of huge trees, Hire said care is being taken during the work. "We had written to the BMC's road and traffic department to take utmost care while digging the roads for concretisation. We wrote the first letter to the road department in January and the second one in March," he said.

According to a civic official, strong winds led to 13 tree-falling incidents in the city on Friday — four in the island city, six in the western suburbs and three in the eastern suburbs. The official said no serious incident was reported.