MUMBAI: In the fourth such tragedy in three months,
Yash Desai (50), a chartered accountant, lost his life after a branch of a Gulmohar tree fell on him at
Andheri (West) on Saturday. His family members have blamed the
BMC for negligence and not trimming the tree before monsoon.
Desai’s wife Bijal told TOI: “He had moved from Dubai with us two years ago to be with his ailing parents in Mumbai. He left his job to take care of his parents. The BMC should have taken precautionary measures and done a routine check of the condition of the tree before rains.”
The BMC refused to take responsibility for the tragedy though, saying it had issued a notice to the society on January 31 to trim the tree inside its premises to avoid any serious incident. Officials said since the society failed to trim the tree, it was responsible for the incident.
Yash’s brother-in-law Mukul Sheth said, “The BMC is just taking corrective action now after a person has lost his life. They should have given permission for the entire tree to be cut if it was in such a bad state. Now after the incident they are showing concern about it.”
TOI visited the society to get the office bearers’ reaction on the BMC notice, but no one came forward. Despite repeated attempts to contact him, society chairman Nilesh Shah did not respond to calls or texts.
The Desai family lives in a building on Barfiwala Road in Andheri. On Saturday, Yash and Bijal first visited a temple in the locality and then decided to visit Sheth who lives nearby. Yash had just reached his brother-in- law’s building, Jeevan Sudha, when the branch fell on him. Sheth said, “They were coming to my house from the temple. They were walking along the narrow lane towards our complex gate that connects S V Road when the tragedy occurred.”
Bijal said the branch fell on Yash when he was walking ahead of her and he sustained serious injuries. Passersby rushed to help him and they took him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The post-mortem report showed fatal injures to his ribs, a raptured spinal cord and internal bleeding, said his relatives.
Illustration for representational purpose