Mumbai:
As many as 812 trees were uprooted across Mumbai due to the impact of the extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae that brushed past the city coast, the civic body said on Wednesday.
According to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) release, of the total trees uprooted by the strong winds triggered by the cyclonic storm, 70 per cent were of foreign origin.
These included tree species like sonmohar (peltoforum), gulmohar, thespesia, rain-tree and royal palm among others, it said.
The release said of the 812 trees which fell, 504 were on private premises and the remaining 308 on public places.
Also, 1,454 tree branches fell due to the storm.
Among these, 307 trees fell in Western suburbs, 256 in Eastern suburbs and 249 in the island city, the civic body said.
The cyclonic storm, which made a landfall on the Gujarat coast on Monday night, triggered strong wind, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves, and Mumbai reeled under its impact for three days (from May 16 to 18).
Under the influence of Tauktae, some places in Western suburbs received more than 300 mm rain, while the maximum wind speed of 114 mm was recorded in south Mumbai.
The civic body said its garden department worked round -the-clock to clear all the uprooted trees and fallen branches, which were affecting movement of vehicles.
However, the Mumbai BJP claimed that more than 48 hours after the storm brushed past the city coast, the civic body hasn’t removed the uprooted trees.
Claiming the BMC hasn’t yet appointed any contractor for tree pruning yet, though a proposal was tabled before the Tree Authority Committee in March 2021, Prabhakar Shinde, the BJP’s group leader in the civic body, threatened to move the Bombay High Court against the Shiv Sena-ruled corporation.
The BMC also assured regular tree audits besides planting new trees as per local conditions.
Last year, when the cyclone ‘Nisarga’ hit the Maharashtra coast, 323 trees fell in Mumbai between June 3 and 6.
