Overview

• The southwest monsoon arrived in Mumbai on May 26, more than two weeks early, and heavy rains on May 28–29 led to 30 reported tree falls across island and suburban wards
• Tree collapses in Sewri, Vikhroli and Chembur caused two fatalities and injured several people, exposing gaps in monsoon readiness
• On May 29 the BMC issued a circular empowering it to survey private premises for hazardous trees, issue notices to owners and prune dangerous branches at no charge if left unaddressed
• Pune Municipal Corporation has adopted a parallel policy authorizing its garden department to trim or remove risky trees on private land after two recent tree-fall deaths
• The expanded pruning mandate follows the BMC’s missed pre-monsoon target of trimming 110,771 roadside trees, of which only 81,214 had been pruned by May 23