High costs of tree-felling and the civic body's apathy have claimed three lives in two days — instances of tree-fall killed one man in Andheri, one in Govandi and another in Malad. On Friday, a branch fell on 38-year-old Shailesh Rathod as he was returning home from a temple in Malad, and though he was rushed to Shatabdi Hospital immediately, he was declared brought dead. Another person, 43-year-old Nitin Shirwalkar, succumbed to the injuries sustained after a tree fell on him in BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) in Govandi. Both deaths come a day after 48-year-old Anil Ghosalkar' fell casualty in Jogeshwari to the same reasons. Residents say Rathod's life could have been saved if the ward officers had heeded their request, made 10 days ago. "I requested an official in BMC's Garden Department 10 days ago to trim the trees in the area," said Ashok Patel, former councillor and a resident of Nadiadwala Colony-1. "She said that they will address the trees on SV Road first, and then come to the inner gullies." Forty-eight-year-old Ghosalkar fell victim to a tree from Takshashila Society in Meghwadi, Andheri East. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said it had forewarned the residents on April 22, and sent them a notice informing that the trees need trimming. The civic administration said that societies in the M/East Ward, under which Govandi falls, were also issued a similar notice. However, the civic body's quotation for the task was too dear for the Andheri housing society. BMC, which enlists outside agencies for such contracts — charges Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh for trimming 10 to 12 trees. The trimming of branches costs between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Housing societies have complained that the costs are prohibitive. "The charges are according to the market rates the contractors charge us, said an official from the Garden department. "They also have the responsibility and cost of transporting the debris." More than 250 incidents of tree and branch collapse have been reported over the past three days across the city. Besides the monsoon, the impact of cyclone Vayu is also to be blamed.

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