It is time we held the BMC accountable for every tree fall

That we must beseech the judiciary to hold our local govt accountable for the simplest of their governance responsibilities is itself galling

- SMRUTI KOPPIKAR

‘Monsoon misery’ is the theme Mumbai hums in frustration, with resignation, every year as the season sets in.

‘Monsoon misery’ is the theme Mumbai hums in frustration, with resignation, every year as the season sets in. The phrase is a favourite with news editors. Lately, it has become a hashtag on social media too. Let's pause and reflect: is it really the monsoon that brings misery for Mumbaikars or, to call a spade a spade, all the powerful and well-financed authorities that cannot seem to get the city ready to handle the rainfall that’s expected? Of them all, the responsibility rests primarily with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and it follows that accountability would have to start with it.

Misery runs deep for the Shrivastava family, who lost their 11-year-old Vihaan when an old peepal tree fell on a moving school bus that he was in, crushing him to death at a tender age because some officials chose to take their job way too lightly. Media reports disclose that the BMC’s garden department had warned last April that the roots of trees in that area of Chembur were weakened because of the work undertaken by other departments for road repair or concretisation and stormwater drains. “The possibility of these trees falling during the monsoon due to damage to their roots cannot be ruled out,” the warning letter apparently stated. The inevitable happened this monsoon, snuffing out a boy's life and injuring four children.