Mumbai: Machines to help South Mumbai tackle tree fall menace

Representation Picture

To help tackle the menace of falling trees in the city, the residents of Colaba and Cuffe Parade and their elected representatives will start a tree audit this weekend.

A mechanised audit of the trees of ward 226 and 227 has been scheduled for this Saturday at 11.30 am. The event will be flagged by member of legislative council, Rahul S Narvekar and BJP corporator from Colaba, Makarand Narvekar. This audit has been initiated by Colaba Advanced Locality Management and My Dream Colaba with local corporators. It will be carried out by a private company which will be using advanced machines to ascertain the strength of the trees.

The first step will be a visual inspection of the trees. The ones found to be in bad shape visually will be then surveyed more thoroughly using machines that would also assess if any insects are weakening the trees. The company is likely to help with remedial measures to prevent the tree from falling.

A detailed report will be then presented to BMC.

Narvekar said, "We want this to be a study where a detailed survey of the strength of the trees is done and remedial measures are suggested. If we know in advance about the status of the tree, appropriate measures can be taken [to prevent tree falling incidents]."

Environmentalist Zoru Bhatena said, "This is the first time I am hearing about a tree audit being carried out by machines. It will be interesting to see how it is done."

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates