Tree fall death: No FIR filed yet

The mother and three kids of Sharda Ghodeswar, 45, who died on Thursday after a tree fell upon her were inconsolable, as her body was brought home after the postmortem. Ghodeswar, who was the only bread earner of the family died instantly when a 40 feet tree fell upon the garden bench that she was sitting on.

Following the incident, the Ghodeswar family and residents of Chembur have been demanding FIR against the gardens department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for their negligence. However, the police and BMC have both brushed away their responsibilities. The Chembur Resident's Group (CRG) met officials of the Govandi police station and urged to file an FIR against BMC's Superintendent of Gardens for criminal negligence.

However, the police refused to file an FIR saying that the investigation was still on. Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Bharat Marathe said, "The death is due to natural calamity and garden's department has promised Rs 1 lakh as compensation to the family of deceased in ten days time."

Chembur citizens have urged BMC in a written correspondence that it does not have any mechanism to check the health of the tree and the officers just leave at a cursory survey of the trees.

"How can the officer know if the tree is healthy by just looking at it. In July, after the death of another Chembur resident Kanchan Nath, who died after a tree fell on her, the Gardens officer promised to inspect the trees in Chembur.

This is still pending," said Manish Gangurde from CRG.