All of these could have been avoided.
The thud of a battered, old peepal tree on a school van in Chembur, Mumbai, on June 30. A life stuck down in its prime, tragically ended ushering the parents of the victim into countless nights spent sleepless with the sheets soaked in tears. Children rushed to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries. The inquiry that followed reached its denouement on July 14, absolving Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Garden Department and Roads Department of blame and finding the contractor and consultancy firm derelict of duty.
Also Read | Chembur tree-fall incident: Clean chit to Garden and Roads Department, Contactors to be penalised
All of these could have been avoided with a dose of proactiveness.
A view of the damaged school bus after a tree collapsed over it at Chembur, in Mumbai on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit:
ANI
Chembur could have kept it boring, its life beating to a predictable but safe pattern. Those children could have reached school and home safely, again and again. Considerable newsprint and bytes could have been saved.
There could be a lesson, a bitter lesson for other Indian metros from Chembur.
The green committee in Chennai shackled by ground realities
Tree Protection Act is in force in some Indian states. within this Act exist provisions for people to be protected from some trees, the diseased one, the one rendered “weak in the knees” by digging for infrastructural work. But Tamil Nadu lacks a Tree Protection Act: the State has enacted Acts to protect trees in hill areas and forests, but there is no sweeping Act that brings within its ambit every street, the trees on that street, and the people living around those ‘green residents’. And the lack of an all-encompassing Act leads to a double whammy: difficulty protecting trees from people, often, and sometimes, people from trees.
In Tamil Nadu, District Green Committees (one for each district) can be called something of a substitute, being endowed with the power to read the Riot Act to those putting an unnecessary axe to a tree. The best part is the penalty these committees can slap on the violators. They also hand out permissions for precariously leaning trees to be felled. But their effectiveness is hindered by the lack of capacity building at the level of the local civic bodies and also the lack of awareness about their existence, points out T.D. Babu, a member of the Chennai District Green Committee.
First, the cognitive blind spot. On the Namma Chennai App, Greater Chennai Corporation’s official mobile platform for grievance redressal, there is a provision to connect with the Chennai District Green Committee and report a tree barely latching on to life and therefore putting public safety in jeopardy, through the posting of photos and location. Mr. Babu avers that a majority of Namma Chennai App users have rarely swing by this feature. Second, the capacity-building part. GCC’s Parks and Playgrounds Department deals with avenue trees, and Mr. Babu notes that from workaday experience, it lacks sufficient manpower to deal with residents’ tree-related angst. “As things stand, weak trees, those likely to fall, are reported by residents. Being proactive would mean GCC identifies these trees, even those within private compounds, ensuring removal of the dangerous trees in public spaces following Green Committee approval and asking residents to remove such trees in their private land.”
Mr. Babu elaborates on the insouciance: “No regular monitoring of tree health that includes overgrowth and trunk imbalance, nailing; concretisation both by individuals and government agencies; pest infestation; root rot; dead trees; dumping of debris and garbage at the base of the trees; burning; Many avenue trees need regular lateral pruning, scientifically, to facilitate them to grow straight and to reduce the overload of the branches that can destabilise the tree. The pruning has to be done by trained and skilled workers under the supervision of the park overseer with tree knowledge. Similarly, the pruning has to be done through a single-window system. As of now, EB, residents and ward-level powers do the pruning work with their own labour unscientifically.”
Trees are Bengaluru’s pride; they should be their responsibility too
Bengaluru is defined by its trees: it wears the laudatory title “The Garden City” proudly, happy eyes crinkling at the corners. It therefore comes as no surprise that the State in which it is subsumed got a Tree Act out of the blocks early, exactly half a century ago. Karnataka Protection of Trees Act 1976 has been the compass directing action for safeguarding trees and life and limb from dying trees. Under the Act, a Tree Authority is constituted for every urban area with a forest officer in that circle helming it. In the workaday context, the first point of contact for a resident anxious over a precariously standing tree would be the local civic body. The overall structure seems decentralised for swift and effective action.
Has that made Greater Benagluru Authority proactive in assessing arboreal danger before it could inflict damage on people?
“There are no visible signs of proactiveness,” says Harini Nagendra, director, School of Climate Change and Sustainability at Azim Premji University, who has documented tree life in Bengaluru. Corroborative evidence supporting her observation can be skimmed off the surface of recent news cycles. Less than 10 days ago, a tree collapsed at a park in Indranagar, leaving two people severely injured, the tree landing on the bench they were seated on. Another tragic incident, a CCTV footage of it going viral and tugging at viewers’ heartstrings, had to do with a motorcyclist at Ram Mandir Road in Rajajinagar suffering a serious head injury, one that sent him into a coma, from the fall of a dry tree branch. If the tree had been pruned on time, ridding it of this dead branch, that horrifying video would not be in circulation.
The Act always seems to “act” after the event: proactiveness would mean regular monitoring of trees at risk for a fall.
“You see trees that are fairly concreted, and you know they are leaning dangerously,” says Harini of Bengaluru. “Lots of trees have been concretised, and they have no breathing space. I would say some of the old trees that are planted are deep-rooted and in very good condition. So, there is a misconception that sometimes you need to take out the old trees. But if you look at it across most cities, the new ones have been badly done because the soil is compacted.”
Proactiveness would save both people and “Pongammia”; and that entails regular inspections to stop rots of a tree’s root, butt and heart when they have barely begun. That would mean having an eye on the concreting around a tree; watching them to ensure debris is not dumped around it.
“We should not create a binary: cut them or keep them; but look at preserving their health for the long term. And if a tree has gone, look at replacing it with a new tree.”
The sad script continues in Delhi
Hitting the capital of India, one notices the picture has not shifted dramatically. The sad script continues, but with changes in numbers and addresses. The guiding light for the National Capital Territory in matters arboreal is the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (DPTA) 1994. A Tree Authority headed by the Principal Secretary of Forests is created for the entire National Capital Territory. In the realm of the day-to-day, reporting of sick trees happens at the level of local governing authorities. Scanning the news screen, on July 7, when rain and winds lashed Delhi, a massive tree fall led to damage of cars at Raja Dhir Singh Marg, east of Kailash. Older reports of tree fall-related damages across years include deaths. Trees rarely fall without a warning; if they had been brought under the scanner, those on a weak footing could be identified. Like the other two Indian metros, Delhi has some work on its hands.
Published – July 14, 2026 11:10 am IST
