This year, Mumbai Monsoon has brought a new killer: the city’s falling trees. The idea that trees provide shelter and refuge began to collapse with the trees themselves. Between 24th June and 9th July, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recorded 2168 incidents of trees and branches falling.
It all started on 30th June when a 70-year-old banyan tree crushed a school bus in Chembur, killing a 11-year-old student and injuring four other children. Five days later 18 year old youth died in Aarey Colony in Goregaon East after a branch fell on his head while he was riding a motorcycle. The following day, a 63-year-old person was killed when a tree collapsed on a shop in Kurla West.
Between 8 am on 5th July and 8 am on 6th July, the BMC’s disaster management cell received 523 complaints of trees and branches falling, the highest single-day count this season.
While saturated soil and strong winds naturally stress vegetation, experts cite poor urban planning as te primary driver behind these collapses. Key factors include:
- Concretisation: Laying concrete right up to tree trunks suffocates roots, blocking critical water and oxygen intake.
- Infrastructure Damage: Excavations for Metro lines, utility cables, and drainage projects frequently sever deep root systems, leaving trees structurally unstable.
- Improper Pruning: Unscientific trimming causes canopy imbalances, making trees top-heavy and vulnerable to gusty winds.
As per the BMC Commissioner, it would be “ a sweeping statement to attribute tree falls only to concretization”. Strong winds touched 50-70 kmph for several days and 77 kmph in one spell, which caused extensive damage to the city’s green cover.
While intense winds may have acted as the immediate trigger this monsoon, experts argue that the extent of the damage points to deeper, long-term stresses on Mumbai’s urban trees. Years of road widening, utility trenching, redevelopment and shrinking open soil around tree trunks have weakened many trees well before the first heavy rains arrived, making them more vulnerable when strong winds hit.
As per environmentalists, most tree falls occur near private infrastructure and redevelopment projects. Roughly a thousand trees have fallen; around 60% were in gardens, parks and private areas. Out of the trees that have fallen, about 90% have been non-native trees and exotic varieties like Gulmohar, rain trees and palm trees. Only 5% of the native trees have fallen. That definitely is because of concretization, and that is a very big challenge, because we have to maintain utility services, and we do not have a choice. We don’t have space. Native trees are naturally adapted to Mumbai’s climate and geography. These native species include banyan, neem, bakul and many others.
The latest incidents this year during the monsoon have once again revived concerns over Mumbai’s long record of tree-fall accidents. Over the past decade, civic records have documented dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries caused by falling trees and branches despite annual inspection drives. The recurring accidents have strengthened demands for independent audits, digital tree mapping, periodic structural health assessments and greater transparency in the functioning of the BMC’s Tree Authority.
It is wake-up time for BMC.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
14th July 2026