A Mira Road resident, C K Gopalakrishnan(37) died five days after battling severe injuries caused by a tree crash outside his Andheri (E) office building. The family of the deceased claimed the tree-fall incident was due to BMC negligence but BMC’s garden department claimed they had trimmed the tree a fortnight before the incident. They claimed the civic stormwater drain department had damaged the tree’s roots during drain work, and alleged it triggered the crash.

“There was neither any rain nor speedy wind on that day, still the tree fell and killed my brother. The BMC should accept its negligence in the case. This is utter carelessness,” Gopalakrishnan’s brother C K Hariharan said. According to the Times of India, the civic officials had visited the deceased on May 19, a day after the incident to inquire about his health. Gopalakrishnan, an employee at a logistics firm on May 18, stepped out of his office in the Pinnacle Park building on Mahakali Caves Road and was waiting for an autorickshaw when the tree snapped and crashed on him and two other pedestrians.