Ankit Salvi/Mumbai
A fresh political controversy has erupted over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) inquiry report into the Chembur school bus tree-fall tragedy, after Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde publicly rejected the findings and questioned the clean chit given to civic officials.
The inquiry committee, constituted after an 11-year-old student was killed when a Peepal tree collapsed onto a school bus in Chembur on June 30, recently submitted its report to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide. While the report recommended financial penalties against the contractor responsible for tree maintenance and the supervising consultancy, it exonerated officials from the BMC’s Garden and Roads departments.
Expressing strong dissatisfaction, Mayor Tawde said she does not accept the report and questioned its credibility, triggering speculation of a rift between the Mayor and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide.
“The committee has fixed responsibility on the contractor and the BMC, but I do not accept this report. During my site inspection, I saw cement slurry entering the tree trunk area. Such practices weaken trees. The tree collapsed onto the school bus during the very first spell of rain. This is an incorrect report,” Tawde said.
“I am not a Mayor who will protect officers. Whether it is Jitendra Pardeshi or anyone else, why they have continued in these positions for so many years is a matter that needs to be examined. Around 2,200 roads have been completed in Mumbai, while nearly 250 kilometres of road work is still pending,” she added.
Questioning the compensation and accountability in the case, Tawde asked, “Is the life of the child who died in the Chembur tragedy worth only ₹7 lakh? Whether it is tree assessment or other issues, we are closely monitoring everything.
Corporators and officers are working on the ground, and the civic administration has now come onto the streets to address these issues.”
The inquiry committee’s report, submitted to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, recommends a penalty of ₹5 lakh against the contractor responsible for tree safety and ₹2 lakh against the supervising consultancy for alleged negligence. It also directs the BMC to formulate and immediately implement a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for tree safety during infrastructure projects.
However, the report gives a clean chit to officials of the Roads and Garden departments, concluding that no prima facie negligence was established on their part.
BJP leader Chitra Wagh also criticised the inquiry report, saying it was unacceptable to absolve civic officials barely a week after the child’s death.
“We do not accept the report submitted by the BMC after the Chembur incident. It has not even been a week since the child died, and officials have already been given a clean chit. The Municipal Commissioner should look at this case through the eyes of a mother rather than through the eyes of officials,” Wagh said.
She questioned the composition of the inquiry committee and the process by which it arrived at its conclusions, demanding an independent investigation.
“Who constituted this committee? Which officers were appointed to it? How did such a report come about? All these aspects must be investigated. A case of culpable homicide should be registered against those responsible,” Wagh added.
The Mayor’s rejection of the inquiry report and Wagh’s criticism have intensified the controversy surrounding the Chembur tragedy, placing the BMC’s handling of the incident and its accountability under renewed public and political scrutiny.
