Acting on advice of officials who had surveyed trees last month, residents of a Mumbai society wrote to the H/East ward asking that dead trees be chopped; however, no action has been taken
Residents of a Santacruz-based society have done all they can to get the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to chop off dead trees on their premises which they fear, may collapse any day, but the civic body hasn’t paid much heed to their requests. Ironically, the civic body had identified the trees as dangerous in the first place.
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The four dead trees, inside the Marble Arch CHS in Santacruz (East), are a cause for worry for the parents of all children who play on the society premises. Members wrote to the local H/East ward office last month and have made several visits to the office since then, but BMC officials are yet to send men to do the work.
Residents of Marble Arch society say the dead trees endanger their children, who play close to them. Pics/Sameer Markande
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Officials from the BMC’s Tree Department had surveyed the trees last month and had marked the four trees as dead and dangerous. The officials who came to visit had told the society to apply to the ward office to get them chopped. They were told they would be charged for this. Acting on this, a resident had written to the local ward office.
Harmit Kaur, who had approached the ward office on behalf of the society to get the trees removed, said, “On August, 28, I wrote to the ward office and requested them to chop the trees. I also agreed to pay the charges for this. But there has been no progress and the concerned officer is not giving any concrete answer on why this delay is happening.”
Kaur claimed one of the four trees is on the verge of collapsing, endangering the children who play near it. She said she received a reply to her request on September 5, stating that she would have to pay Rs 3,600 for getting the trees axed.
“However, the officer asked us to pay more money. We were ready to do that as well. I’ve called the concerned BMC officer many times and he promises to get the job done. But the trees are still here,” she added. The civic body’s lethargic response goes against a notice they had issued before the monsoon, asking societies to contact the local ward office in case they found any dead or dangerous trees on their premises.
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