Nagpur: A nearly 150-year-old peepal tree, regarded as a heritage landmark of Hansapuri, crashed on Wednesday morning, with locals blaming the ongoing old Bhandara Road widening work for the incident.The massive tree fell on a vacant house-cum-shop on Ganjakhet Road, damaging the structure. No injuries were reported. The collapse also snapped power lines, disrupting electricity supply in the locality for nearly three hours, while traffic remained affected until civic teams cleared the debris.Residents and local corporator Sanjay Balpande alleged that excavation close to the tree for road widening and utility work had exposed and severed several roots, drastically weakening its stability.“The tree was nearly 150 years old and one of Hansapuri’s most recognisable landmarks. I had complained to the authorities two days ago after noticing that excavation around the trunk had weakened its roots. Officials only pruned some branches but took no steps to secure or preserve the tree,” Balpande told TOI.Balpande said civic officials had earlier indicated that the tree would be transplanted, but the exercise was never carried out. “Had timely action been taken, this heritage tree could have been saved,” he added.Locals said the tree, popularly known as the “Hansapuri tree”, had served as a landmark for generations and become a symbol of the locality’s identity.The incident has renewed concerns over the protection of heritage trees during infrastructure projects. Residents have demanded an independent inquiry into whether excavation within the tree’s root zone caused the collapse. Officials from NMC’s garden department had not commented on the allegations till late evening.The incident came on a day when rain and gusty winds uprooted trees at three other locations across the city, disrupting traffic but causing no injuries. The NMC Fire and Emergency Services Department responded to tree falls on Hudkeshwar Police Station Main Road, near Anuradha Bungalow on Japanese Garden Road, and near Birsa Munda Hall in Pachpaoli, clearing the debris and restoring traffic.
