TimesView The footpath development work has been causing inconvenience to road users and the tree fall could have caused a serious accident. Arterial thoroughfares like FC Road and JM Road have a good tree cover and it must be carefully conserved. The experts from the civic body’s garden department should have given the contractor clear instructions to prevent any harm to trees. The civic body must quickly inspect all the trees on both the roads to prevent any tragedy during monsoon. PUNE: The ongoing roadwork to build smart footpath opposite the Fergusson College gate led to a tree fall on Tuesday morning that injured two persons, prompting the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials to get into damage control mode.The PMC officials claimed that the civic garden department was not consulted before the excavation work started near the trees lining the busy F C Road.The excavation work has also exposed underground electricity cables and damaged stone slabs installed by Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited to indicate the presence of a gas pipeline.The tree fell around 11am and trapped two persons. The duo suffered minor injuries.Tanveer Singh, who works in a private company in the vicinity, was walking along the dug-up pavement when the tree fell.“I escaped with some scratches and a bump on my head. My cellphone was completely smashed,” said Singh. Security guard Mahadev Chavan was the injured person. “He has suffered injuries on his neck and back and we took him to the hospital. He is in pain and resting now,” said his son.A PMC official said, “We did not expect that the tree’s roots would not be deep. We have spoken with our senior officials from the garden department.”“ The contractor has been told to be very careful during the digging process and ensure that trees are not harmed in anyway. It is an unfortunate incident,” the official added.PMC’s deputy engineer Dinkar Gojare explained that the garden department was consulted from time to time.“Two works, footpath development and 24X7 water supply pipeline, are under way in the area. We coordinate with the garden department, but in this case, I shall have to check,” he said.The work on smart footpaths along FC Road has been on for almost five months now. The PMC officials claimed that the Urban Street Design guidelines were being followed.Amateur botanist Shrikant Ingalhalikar said the garden department must be consulted during such works.“A proper study of the trees needs to be done before the digging starts. The root system of the trees in any particular area needs to be understood. The PMC should be careful, and its officials should take help of the garden department officials, who know these things,” he told TOI.An official of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) said they had conducted a joint survey with civic officials before the work on FC Road began.“We have given them the maps showing the location of the underground cables. In case the cables get damaged, we will get them repaired by the civic body,” he said, adding that the MSEDCL officials would be asked to inspect the exposed cables along the road.

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