While more people fall victims to unpruned trees falling on them, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the housing societies are pointing fingers at each other.
The civic body alleges housing societies don’t take action and the societies say the BMC takes its own sweet time in granting permission to trim the trees.
Nearly four cases of tree collapses were reported in housing societies over last two months, the most recent being that of a Kalina resident, Anne Fernandes (37), who sustained grievous injuries when a tree fell on her.
The BMC drew flak for the incidents and it decided to take action on the housing societies. The BMC has given a 15-day deadline to societies to prune overgrown trees or cough up Rs 5,000 as penalty.
“We conducted a ward-wise survey and found that as many as 500 housing societies in Mumbai have not pruned trees. We have sent notices to them and given them 15 days’ time, failing which we will fine them,” said Chandrashekhar Rokde, deputy municipal commissioner.
“The BMC has no right to fine the housing societies for not trimming the trees. We have to get permission from the ward officer before pruning trees. We had written to the ward officer for the same before the onset of monsoon. However, there was no response. How do they expect us to take action without their permission?” asked Raju Gangwani, a resident of Mulund. His is one of the 500 housing societies that have been served the BMC notice.
Environmentalist and member of BMC’s tree authority committee, Dr Nilesh Baxi, however, said, it’s not just the lack of intent on the BMC’s part but also a lack of information that is the problem. “According to procedure, the housing society has to send an application with photographs of the trees that need trimming.
The assistant horticulturist then has to visit the site and give permission. However, if the society doesn’t get permission within 60 days, it can go ahead with the pruning but they are unaware of the provision,” he says. Rokde says that the BMC does not have direct authority to prune trees that are on the premises of the societies “but the BMC Act 1881 allows us to survey private premises and order owners to trim trees.”
Dr Baxi added that the BMC has never taken trimming work seriously and is now passing the buck to the housing societies. “The BMC is short-staffed and no one visits the sites to inspect the state of trees that need trimming.”
While the BMC’s garden department has sent notices to 500 housing societies to prune overgrown trees within 15 days or pay fine, residents blame the civic body for red tape in granting permission. DNA asks if the BMC’s stand is justified.
BMC permission can take two months
We trim the trees in our society regularly. During and after the monsoons, trimming the branches is necessary as thereare increased chances of accidents. A lot of cars are parked under them, and children play in the compound in the evenings. So if a branch falls, someone is likely to get hurt. Also, to trim a tree, one needs to take permission from the BMC which sometimes takes more than two months. So, I don’t think the civic body is justified to penalising societies and giving them a short notice.
Shrutika Gupta, Mulund
BMC and societies need to co-operate
I completely agree with the BMC’s decision to penalise the societies that do not trim the trees in their compounds. It’s a matter of concern, not only for the BMC but for the citizens too. In the past few days, many have died or severely injured because of unrpuned trees falling on them. Even assets like cars have been damaged. Mumbai is a large city with numerous housing
societies; the civic body cannot take charge of all. Therefore, it wants the people to take some responsibility and help them in keeping the city safe.
Kushal Sampat, Santa Cruz
It’s the civic body’s job to prune trees
I don’t think the BMC can just wake up and serve notices. We all know that a procedure has to be followed and one has to take permission from the civic body. It is a lengthy process, and in between, if any accident occurs, the BMC cannot blame the people. The city needs trees and the authorities alone should trim or cut them rather than allowing anyone to do it. That is not to overlook the accidents that occured because of untrimmed trees but penalising the housing societies for not trimming them is not fair at all.
Bhavana Shukla, Bandra
Waiting for a reply to our application
Around two months back, we submitted an application to the municipal corporation to trim trees in our society. It’s a normal procedure where one has to submit an application along with photographs of the tree and the society. We fulfiled our part but what about the BMC’s obligations? The civic body should get its act together and help in finishing the work on time rather than first delaying it and then blaming it on the citizens. If they want people to take action within the 15 day time frame, then even they should try to finish their duty early. I’m sure, once a society gets the permission, they will not take time to trim trees in its compound.
Dolton Magee, Sion
Shouldn’t penalise people; it’s a lengthy procedure
First and foremost, everyone needs to know that every single tree in the city belongs to the BMC because it has been registered under the tree census. Even if the tree is in one’s housing society, one cannot cut or trim it without permission from the civic body. And to take permission, citizens need to take a photograph of the society with an application for trimming the branches. According to the rules, the permission should be granted within 30 days. However, there are hardly any cases where the permission is given within that period. This delay can sometimes lead to accidents. I don’t think it is correct on the BMC’s part to fine someone for the delay that might have occurred because of their own faulty and lengthy procedure. Moreover, there are barely any private contractors in the city who have the modern equipment or the knowledge about trimming trees.
Nilesh Baxi, member, Tree Committee, MCGM
Citizens need to take charge, can’t depend on BMC
The civic body is in charge of trimming the trees on the roads and not in the housing societies’ compounds. Therefore, people have to take responsibility and trim trees in their society. Most societies do so every year whereas there are few that are not willing to do so as it costs a lot. And as for permission, societies can trim tree branches that are small; it’s only the big branches for which one needs permission to trim. If people are angered by the BMC fining them for not trimming trees then to some extent, they are correct. Since, one has to take permission from the municipal corporation and it is a lengthy process, many tend to ignore it and not trim trees at all. Therefore, the BMC must first get their act together and then penalise people. The recent accidents have made the BMC conscious and they want to take all the precautionary steps so that no other mishaps occur in the future and they don’t have to compensate anyone.
Shyama Kulkarni, civic activist
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