Monsoon back with tree-falls

Mumbai: In the last two days, 22 tree-fall complaints have been registered with the disaster management cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This comes soon after the BMC's gardens department made tall claims of pruning and removing 340 dead and dangerous trees as part of premonsoon preparations. The latest claim is that the department has trimmed 11,629 trees across the city, the maximum being in the island city, followed by the western and eastern suburbs.      On Monday, a tree collapsed near Bhavan's College, Andheri (West), damaging at least 10 motorbikes. Over the weekend, two tree-fall complaints were recorded in the island city, 12 in the western suburbs and eight in the eastern suburbs. But the civic administration defended its preparations, saying it is "absolutely impossible" to completely prevent tree-falls. "We can at the most minimize tree-falls in the city. With rapid develo p m e n t i n M u m b a i , tree roots hardly get any space to expand," said an official of the gardens department.      As part of its pre-monsoon preparations, the BMC had pruned or removed 340 dead and dangerous trees: 41 in the island city, 263 in the western suburbs and 36 in the eastern suburbs. According to the gardens department, the process of trimming trees is continuous and is likely to be so during the monsoon as well.  MUNICIPALITY'S PREPARATIONS  The BMC says it has trimmed and balanced 340 dead and dangerous trees identified last month  Paver blocks around the trunks of 500 trees have been removed, but the civic body has no wardwise data  Emergency 'gangs' have been set up in all wards to review tree-fall complaints  The BMC has received 1,049 tree-fall complaints since 2008  WHAT YOU CAN DO  Get trees in your neighbourhood checked by a horticulturist  Concrete structures, like platforms, should not be built around trunks. Doing so restricts the expansion of roots, weakening trees in the long run  An arborist should be consulted before planting a sapling in the building. His or her advice may pertain to tree species, care and precaution  In case you notice that the tree is dangerously inclined, immediately contact the ward office and ask for the junior tree officer