Every time Prakash Nayak, 43, passes by the Ashoka tree near Kavali Math on Walkeshwar Road, a shiver runs down his spine. It’s been eight years since a branch broke and fell on his 91-year-old aunt, killing her, but the trauma still lingers.
“I received a phone call asking me to rush to GT Hospital. The locals had taken her there after the accident and I cannot get rid of the image of her lying on the bed with her life wasting away,” he recalls.
But it is more than just the Ashoka tree that Nayak is worried about. Something as ordinary as passing under a tree now filled them with unease. “Since the accident, we have become very careful while walking under all trees, especially in monsoon. After all these years, the low, looming branches still worry us,” says Nayak.
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Leela Sukhi lost her life while returning home from Panganga district around 6:00 pm on May 29, 2018. A 20-foot tree branch fell and she was hospitalized with injuries from which she never recovered. “She was the foundation of our family and we always sought her advice before taking important family decisions,” says Nayak. “Her loss has left a huge void in our lives.”
Sukhi, an alumnus of Elphinstone College with a law degree, worked in the state secretariat before joining the Taraborowala Aquarium as treasurer. Till four years before her death, she taught Sanskrit, Hindi and English to students from classes I to X. For Nayak, her death came too soon.
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He says the family did not receive any financial compensation from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after the tragedy. “We also never approached the BMC because we were not aware of the possibility of claiming compensation. It is unforgivable that someone loses their life due to a falling tree branch, and families are left to cope with the loss on their own.”
Eight years later, Nayak still looks up whenever he passes the Ashoka Tree. “We are still monitoring it. Its branches have not been properly pruned by the authorities.”
