After tree branch falls, 91-year-old taken from one hospital to another

MUMBAI: In the second death caused by a tree fall in the city this summer, a 91-year-old woman was killed after an Ashoka tree branch crashed on her at Banganga in Walkeshwar on Monday evening, report Mateen Hafeez and Richa Pinto. Last month, a 38-year-old man had died after a tree fell on him in Naigaon area of Dadar.
In both cases, the trees were inside private properties. The property owners are responsible for trimming them, while the BMC, before every monsoon, identifies and prunes trees on public land that may pose a threat.


Monday’s victim, Lila Sukhi, was returning home from her walk when tragedy struck around 6pm.

Banganga resident Lila Sukhi, who had worked in Mantaralaya a long time ago, sat outside a grocery shop for a few minutes on her way back home from her walk around 6pm. “She used to come for a walk in the area and sit on a chair outside the grocery shop. On Monday, I was inside my shop when I heard a crash. On coming out, I found her lying injured,” Rajesh Gupta, a shopkeepers in the area, said.

The owner of the shop outside which Sukhi would sit everyday said, “A youth was sitting on a chair and got up to go to somewhere. In the meantime, Sukhi came and sat on the chair. Within a couple of minutes, a tree branch fell on her. She sustained severe injuries on her face, legs and arms.”

Gupta said a crowd gathered at the spot and some youngsters rushed Sukhi to a private hospital in Malabar Hill. The Malabar Hill police was informed, and a team of cops also reached the hospital. Jaganath Vare, who was among those who rushed the woman to the hospital, said, “From there, she was shifted to GT hospital in Fort.” According to a local resident, they were advised to take the woman to a government hospital as treatment there would be cheaper. Sukhi was declared dead at GT Hospital. Her body was handed over to the family after a postmortem. The Malabar Hill police have registered a case of accidental death and are probing it.

Sukhi’s sister Mahalaxmi Nayak (86), who had gone for the walk along with her, said, “I returned home early and asked Sukhi to come back soon. She told me that she would be back in a few minutes. Soon after I reached home, some boys came and said Sukhi had met with an accident. She was vomiting blood when she was being taken to GT Hospital.” Nayak retired as a senior nurse at Kasturba Hospital. Sukhi’s husband, who used to work for railways, died a decade ago.

The BMC has said as the tree was located in a private premises, trimming and pruning was the responsibility of the owner. The tree was located on the premises of Shree Kavale Math. An official said that on October 30 last year, the BMC had given the trust permission to trim trees on its premises and then sent a reminder on November 15. A senior civic official said the trust had sought permission to trim trees, but later did not follow up on it by paying the charges as the work is carried out by civic contractors. “However, there was no request for permission to trim the tree from which the branch fell on the woman,” he said .

When TOI contacted the trust manager P Patgaonkar, he said he had taken charge only a fortnight ago and would not be able to comment on the issue.

Earlier in the day, three people were injured after a tree fell on an autorickshaw at Kandarpada, Borivli (W), on Monday afternoon. Out of the three injured Gangaram Pal, 35, was admitted to Kandivali's Shatabdi Hospital, while Mithila Chakraborty and Deepika Chakraborty, 28, were admitted to a private hospital. Their condition is stable.