Mumbai: BMC has completed the removal of fallen trees and branches and carried out tree pruning at 3,841 locations across the city following damage caused by heavy rain and strong winds earlier this month.Civic officials said work is still underway at 542 locations, where operations are being carried out in phases due to site conditions, safety concerns or pending permissions.According to the BMC, between June 22 and July 17, a total of 902 trees were uprooted and 1,275 branches fell across public and private properties. Of the uprooted trees, 367 were on BMC land and 524 on private properties, while 552 branches fell on civic land and 723 on private properties.The civic body’s garden department said its teams responded immediately to each incident with the required machinery to clear roads, restore traffic movement and minimise inconvenience to residents. Control rooms, ward offices and emergency teams have been operating round the clock during the monsoon, officials said.The BMC said it has cleared 359 of the 367 uprooted trees on municipal land, with work pending at eight locations. On private properties, 452 of the 524 fallen trees have been removed, while operations continue at 72 locations. Similarly, 541 of the 552 fallen branches on civic land have been cleared, while work is underway at 11 locations. On private land, 632 of the 723 fallen branches have been removed, with clearance continuing at 91 sites.Apart from clearing fallen trees and branches, the garden department has also undertaken tree pruning at locations where ownership could not be established. Of 2,206 such sites, pruning has been completed at 1,857, while work is in progress at the remaining locations.The BMC has urged citizens to avoid standing under trees during heavy rain or strong winds and to report fallen trees, hanging branches or trees that appear at risk of collapsing by calling the civic helpline 1916.Three people died in monsoons this year after trees or their branches came crashing on them. On June 30, an 11-year-old boy, Vihaan Srivastav, died after a tree crashed on the school bus he was travelling in. Following it, an inquiry was initiated into the incident, which penalised the contractor who undertook road works on the stretch the tree crashed, Rs 5 lakh, and the consultant, Rs 2 lakh.
