The development will help BMC to complete the difficult task before monsoon as more than thousands of trees or branches collapsed in 2018 and claimed 6 lives
Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) managed to grant a month’s extension to old tree-trimming contractors after the Tree Authority (TA) failed to sanction the new contract proposal.
The development will help the BMC to complete the difficult task before monsoon as more than thousands of trees or branches collapsed in 2018 and claimed six lives. The city has around 30 lakh trees, out of which 1.75 lakh trees are on the roads. The BMC had given a contract worth Rs 90 crore, extending over three years in May 2016 for all 24 wards across the city that expired on May 15, 2019. The BMC knew the dates beforehand and was also aware that the tendering process could get delayed. The proposal to appoint new contractors was tabled in the TA meeting on May 13. However, the meeting was adjourned after the death of two ex-councillors. The next meeting will now be held in June after three weeks.
The city authority had no other option than to grant an extension to the existing contractors. “Trimming of trees is a necessary activity as far as monsoon preparedness is concerned. After last year’s tree or branch collapse incidents, the BMC cannot take any risk,” an officer from the western suburbs said.
The garden department has given a month-long extension to existing contractors. In the recent past, two people — a lady talking on the phone and a biker luckily escaped when a big branch of a Jamun tree crashed on a footpath in Lalbaug. The incident was captured on nearby CCTV cameras and the video of their narrow escape went viral.
“Every year innocent people die due to tree or branch collapse incidents. Tree trimming should be done properly to avoid such incidents,” said local corporator Anil Kokil. During the monsoon season of 2018, 510 tree collapse incidents and as many as 1,077 branch collapse incidents were reported. Four men and two women died in these incidents while 18 men and 12 women were injured.
MONSOON-READY
- The development will help BMC to complete the difficult task before monsoon as more than thousands of trees or branches collapsed in 2018 and claimed 6 lives
- The city has around 30 lakh trees, out of which 1.75 lakh trees are on the roads
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