A Class XI student returning home on a scooter with medicines for his younger brother came under a “50-year-old” gulmohar tree that got uprooted and crashed on him in Jodhpur Park in south Kolkata on Thursday morning.
Siddhartha Mandal, 18, suffered multiple fractures on his right leg and injured his head as the tree with a heavy trunk toppled over him.
Two others who were standing on the other side of the road were also injured but did not need hospitalisation.
The accident happened in front of 223A Jodhpur Park — 1.4km from the Dhakuria bridge — around 11.30am.
Siddhartha Mandal (left), who was on a scooter, being pulled out from under the uprooted gulmohar tree
Naturalists said a full-grown tree getting uprooted without any rain or wind would either be the result of unscientific plantation or inadequate trimming and lack of care.
Siddhartha, a resident of Rahim Ostagar Road and a Class XI student of Dhakuria Ram Chandra High School, may have to undergo surgery after the CT scan report arrives, mother Annapurna Mandal said on Thursday evening.
People in the neighbourhood said they “never thought” the tree was going to crash like this.
“I heard a loud crash around 11.30am. Initially, I thought there was an accident. But peeping out of the shop, I could see that the krishnachura (gulmohar) that was covered with flaming orange flowers had collapsed on the road. Some people were injured, too,” said a person working in a sweet shop in the locality.
The pick-up truck trapped under the gulmohar tree that got uprooted in Jodhpur Park on Thursday morning
The tree fell on top of a small pick-up truck that was parked under its canopy. The driver, Somnath Mondal, who had stepped out of the vehicle minutes before the crash to buy betel leaf from a shop on the other side of the road, could have been crushed under the log had he been sitting inside.
Somnath, who was one of the three who were injured, was treated and discharged from hospital as his injuries were “not very serious”, an officer of Lake police station said.
Another pedestrian, Chandana Naskar, who was also standing on the other side of the road, was treated and discharged from the hospital.
A man cuts the trunk of the tree
The tree that the police said was more than 20ft high had its root spread across a diameter of more than 6ft. As the tree got uprooted, the hollow inside the trunk was exposed.
“It appears to be infested with termites. We need to have a more scientific approach to maintenance of trees and for tree-trimming.
Just like parts of some trees are regularly trimmed for accommodating advertisement banners and electric poles, the other side of the same tree should also be trimmed asymmetrically. Else the treetops get disbalanced and become prone to fall,” said naturalist Arjan Basu Roy.
The rear of the damaged vehicle
Trees planted in common areas should be inspected from time to time to detect any ailment and prevent their fall.
“Culling, too, is a part of tree management. If a tree is old and infested, it needs to be culled and replaced with a young plant after filling new soil in the place so that the new plant can grow and stay for another 20 years,” he said.
Sometimes, planting trees in concrete areas that do not allow the roots to grow also lead to weakening of roots, causing trees to fall.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation periodically carries out trimming and pruning of trees across the city. However, hundreds of trees have got uprooted causing danger to life and property in the last two years, since Cyclone Amphan hit the city in 2020 and apparently weakened the roots.