Banyan branch falls on city biker, crushes him

MUMBAI: A 44-year-old man died when a branch of an old tree fell on him as he was passing under it on his bike on Friday night, making him the third victim to be felled by untrimmed and rotting trees.
The accident took place around 11.30 pm on P D’Mello Road near the Yellow Gate police station when Aslam Sheikh and his wife Reshma (40)—she was riding pillion—were returning home after visiting an ailing relative at the Army Hospital at Dongri.
People who arrived first at the scene said a loose branch of an old banyan tree fell on the couple, throwing them off the bike. So great was the impact that Sheikh was declared dead on arrival by doctors at St George Hospital, where he was rushed to. Reshma remained unconscious till 3 am the following day.
Residents claimed that they had repeatedly alerted the BMC and fire brigade officials of the danger the heavy branch posed, but no action had been taken.
“The impact was so huge that at first I thought an SUV had rammed into the tree, which I think is nearly 40 years old. The man must have been lying on the road for at least 20 minutes before they were rushed to St George Hospital in a taxi,’’ said Riyaz Sheikh, one of the those who came upon the injured couple.
Aslam, an employee in the security division of Hindustan Petroleum, was buried at the Reay Road crematorium on Saturday morning.
Angry relatives and friends of Aslam Sheikh have registered a complaint with the local fire brigade officials. “The fire brigade office is just a stone’s throw away from where the accident took place, but no one came to their rescue. Even the tree branch was not trimmed by the corporation,’’ said local social worker Aslam Khan, who had helped the couple into a taxi.
Aslam’s widow, who has suffered severe head injuries, attended his burial but had to be readmitted in hospital for further treatment.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, senior civic officials descended on the accident site to find out what went wrong and admitted that the BMC was to blame.
“This road is dotted with Ficus benghalensis trees (scientific name of banyan) on both sides. Since the leaves of this tree are particularly heavy often causing its branches to give way, our officials should have taken adequate care. Many of these branches are clearly covering the entire stretch of the road and needed to be trimmed in time,’’ said deputy municipal commissioner (gardens) Chandrashekhar Rokade.
The Ficus benghalensis is considered to be one of the largest trees in the world in terms of area covered, but it is rarely trimmed as it is considered sacred and often shelters a small temple of sorts underneath, said officials.