Mumbai: Falling branch kills 31-year-old man, leaves wife injured

Ravi Shah lost his life when a tree branch fell on the rickshaw he was travelling in

BMC's negligence towards dangerous trees has led to the loss of another life. On Tuesday, a Dombivli resident died after a branch of a tree fell on the autorickshaw he was travelling in with his wife. She has suffered an eye injury but is stable. However, the autorickshaw driver is said to be critical. Following the incident, a local alleged that he had repeatedly written to BMC about the tree, to no avail.

According to civic authorities, the incident occurred on Guru Gobind Singh road in Mulund West. Ravi Shah, 31, and his wife Urvi Shah, 27, were on their way to Ravi's sister's home, after visiting a hospital in Mulund, in an autorickshaw being driven by Chandrabhan Gupta, 40. The branch fell on the rickshaw and struck Ravi and Chandrabhan in their heads, rendering Ravi unconscious on the spot.

BMC says a wire tied around the branch that fell on the rickshaw had weakened it. Pics/Rajesh gupta

The fire department was informed about the fall around 3.25 pm, after which one of their teams rushed to the spot along with the police, an ambulance and officials from BMC's garden department.

A police officer said all three were rushed to the Agarwal hospital, but due to lack of facilities there, Urvi had to be shifted to Fortis hospital, while Chandrabhan was taken to another private hospital. Ravi was declared brought dead and Urvi has suffered injuries on her right eye, where five stitches were administered; she's stable. Urvi had lost vision in her left eye several years ago, in a pressure cooker blast at their home. Chandrabhan's condition is critical; he has been put on ventilator support. Hospital sources said his condition is improving.

Ravi Shah

Demanded punishment
Urvi's sister told mid-day, "Ravi had been unwell for a week, so Urvi had taken him to their family doctor, one Dr. Mahesh. Following the check up, they were planning on going to Ravi's sister's home, which is in the same colony where the branches of the tree collapsed. She has suffered minor injuries and the doctor has allowed her to go home."

Ganesh Gupta, Chandrabhan's younger brother said, "Tree fall incidents have been in the news since monsoon began and many people have lost their loved ones to them. We're lucky my brother is alive. We've demanded punishment for the person who neglected the application. Also, the government should compensate the victims.

Urvi Shah were on their way back from a visit to the doctor

He has three small children. The entire family is praying for his recovery." The police have registered an accidental death report in the matter and are conducting further inquiry into the incident.

BMC's negligence
BMC's negligence seems to have been the cause of the incident, according to Dhaneshchandra Madanlal Alag, a local. He alleged that he'd written to the local BMC ward officials about the tree whose branch fell, asking them to cut it, but the authorities did not act on his application. "I'd filed the first application on May 23 and sent another reminder on July 10, but BMC officials did not take any action. And now, a branch of the tree has collapsed," Alag told mid-day.

When mid-day reached out to Kishor Gandhi, officer, T-Ward, he said, "We've seen the branches that fell on the auto. Initially, we found that the fallen branch had been broken by a wire that was wrapped around it about 10 to 12 years ago, when the branch was thin. As the branch had become thicker, the wire was not visible, which is why it fell. We usually trim the branches that are found in a dangerous condition. We will conduct an inquiry to get a detailed report of the collapsed branch."
With inputs from Rohit Parikh

Also read: Mumbai Rains: Tree-fall claims one more life; 50-year-old killed in Andheri

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates