MUMBAI: The death of 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastav on Tuesday afternoon occurred after a peepal tree crashed along Road No. 11 in Chembur—the very stretch where BMC departments had repeatedly warned each other months earlier that road works were damaging tree roots and increasing the risk of trees collapsing during the monsoon.Official internal communications accessed by TOI showed that the BMC’s garden department had issued at least two written warnings to the roads department, cautioning that excavation around tree bases during road and storm-water drain works was damaging roots and could lead to trees toppling during the monsoons.The first communication, dated January 27, 2026, followed an inspection by the Junior Tree Officer on January 24. It recorded that contractors carrying out road works on Road No. 11 and Road No. 14 in Chembur (East) had excavated close to tree trunks, damaging their roots.“The possibility of the said trees falling during the monsoon due to digging near the roots cannot be ruled out,” the notice stated, while also mentioning that residents had already complained and that the negligence of the contractor was tarnishing the civic body’s image.The garden department directed the roads department to immediately stop excavation near tree roots, remove construction debris piled around the base of trees, create tree basins measuring at least 1 metre by 1 metre, and fill them with red soil to facilitate healthy root growth.However, a second and more strongly worded notice issued a few months later indicates that the concerns had not been addressed. The subsequent notice expanded the affected stretches to include Road No. 11, Road No. 21, Sindhi Society Internal Road and Collector Colony Internal Road, stating that inspections continued to find tree roots being damaged during road works.The notice went a step further, warning that if any of the trees were to fall, the department executing the road work would be held fully responsible. It also mentioned that large quantities of construction debris had been dumped around tree bases, further harming the trees.Calling the matter “very serious”, the garden department also stated that it had repeatedly raised the issue but similar violations continued.It reminded officials that damaging trees in this manner is a punishable offence under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, and once again instructed engineers to prevent excavation near roots and restore proper soil around every affected tree.Tuesday’s tragedy has now raised questions over whether those repeated internal warnings were acted upon, and whether timely corrective measures could have prevented the fatal tree collapse that claimed the life of the 11 year old student returning home from school.
