The death of 11-year-old Vihan Srivastava on Tuesday has yet again rung alarm bells over the impact of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s mega concretisation drive on the health of Mumbai’s trees.
In less than three years, records accessed by The Indian Express show, at least 2,615 trees have incurred damages during road concretisation and excavation works with the Mumbai’s Tree Authority issuing 428 notices to BMC’s civic roads department and utility agencies for damaging tree roots during road digging and concreting until March 2026.
The tree in Chembur, which came crashing on a school van and killed 11-year-old Vihan, was among one of them.
Preliminary inspection of the tree, hours after the collapse, revealed that while the side roots of the tree were intact, the core roots had weakened and given away. Following the tree crash, the BMC has constituted a special committee to ascertain the cause of the tree collapse.
However, data show that the road digging work and its impact on trees along Chembur’s Road no. 11 where the tree fell, had been flagged by the M/West ward office in April, when the ward garden cell raised concerns over unscientific digging around the base of the trees.
Cops stand outside the casualty unit of the hospital in Chembur. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
“When the Junior Tree Officer inspected the said place daily, it was found that the roots of the trees on the road were damaged due to digging near the base of the trees while digging by the contractor appointed by our department,” said the notice issued by the M/West ward’s assistant garden superintendent.
“Also, it was found that a large amount of debris was dumped near the base of the trees during the said monsoon, which is causing damage to the tree,” the notice added.
In the letter, officials directed the road department to carry out no excavation around trees, remove the debris as well as ensure a tree basin of at least 1*1 metre in size should be made around the trink with red soil.
On January 27, 2026, yet another notice was issued to the civic road department after an inspection by tree officials from the ward on January 24, observed digging near the base of the tree by a contractor while doing road works along Road no. 11 and Road no. 14.
428 notices, 2,615 trees damaged
Data accessed by The Indian Express showedthat between October 2023 and March 2026, Mumbai’s Tree Authority issued 428 notices to the BMC’s Roads Department and utility agencies engaged in road works for damaging tree roots. During the same period, the roots of 2,615 trees were found to have been damaged during road concretisation and related excavation works.
In 2013, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed that a one-metre buffer zone be maintained around the base of every tree to provide adequate space for root growth and water percolation. Subsequently, the BMC’s Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Disaster Management) issued mandatory guidelines requiring safeguards for trees during road concretisation, trenching, excavation, drainage and other infrastructure works.
The tree which fell on the bus being cut to smaller peaces to clear the road and transportation. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
In 2019, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also directed urban local bodies to maintain an unconcretised 6-metre by 6-metre area around trees in public spaces to facilitate rainwater percolation and ensure healthy root growth.
However, BMC officials said these norms are routinely violated in Mumbai, with concrete often being laid right up to the tree trunk.
According to BMC data, over 2,100 trees have collapsed in the past three years.
Why digging work affect tree health?
The process of road concretisation involves excavating the existing road surface before laying concrete slabs and pouring large quantities of cement. During this process, the roots of trees lining the roads are often damaged.
Civic officials said that in many ongoing road concretisation projects, contractors lack an understanding of how to protect tree basins during excavation. They added that the BMC’s Tree Authority is often not consulted before road digging begins.
“The roots of trees need to hold the soil firmly. When concrete is poured over the root zone, the roots gradually lose their grip and the tree’s foundation weakens. As a result, trees can collapse even after a brief spell of rain,” a BMC Tree Authority official told The Indian Express.
Donna Sequeira, Mumbai-based wildlife biologist, said that concretisation and road widening without scientific care can pose a major impact on tree stability. “During road works, a large amount of tree roots are cut and destroyed without any scientific investigation into the above and beneath ground expanse of the tree. Such unplanned destructionof roots can make trees unstable and prone to environmental pressures like winds and strong rains,” she said.
The tragedy comes amid a spike in tree fall incidents following the onset of the monsoon. BMC records show that between Monday and Tuesday morning, the city reported 36 tree collapse incidents, including 23 in the western suburbs, six in the eastern suburbs and seven in the island city (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty). 
Cops stand outside the casualty unit of the hospital in Chembur. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The tree which fell on the bus being cut to smaller peaces to clear the road and transportation. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
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