Pune: 70 Year-Old Banyan Tree Uprooted and Falls on Yerwada Jail road 

No loss of life was reported in this incident.

25 April 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari 

Wednesday morning, albeit mundane for most of us, was tragic for a 70 year-old tree that collapsed on the Yerawada Jail-Vishrantwadi Road at around 6 am. There was a traffic jam in the area for over six hours, but fortunately there was no loss of life, as per officials. 

There was a road closure on account of the tree falling down. Since the incident took place at dawn, there was very less traffic and commotion on the road and hence, there was no harm to any life according to the municipal authorities. Only a name plate with ‘Daulatrao Jadhav Training Center’ on it has been marred. 

The walls surrounding the tree also seem to have sunk in the fall. Additionally, there was disruption in the power supply of the area due to the tree collapsing. There shouldn’t be any unfortunate incidents once the municipality provides the Mahadistribution Department with information regarding the occurrence. The area’s energy supply was turned off as a result. It is interesting to note that traffic from this route was rerouted via Golf Chowk.

As this incident occurred in the early morning, the personnel of the Yerawada Police Station and Jail promptly notified the municipal park department of it. Officers, staff and fire brigade team vehicles and staff arrived at the scene and clipped the tree trunks and branches.

Traffic police officers were discharged in the vicinity and had put up warning boards in order to avoid accidents, on behalf of the traffic control room. The traffic police personnel pulled their weight and worked to relieve traffic congestion on the roads even in the scorching sun and the unprecedented April heat. 

A month and a half ago, in a similar incident, two people narrowly escaped injury after two trees collapsed in the Kalyani Nagar area of Pune. However, a couple of two-wheelers were heavily disfigured in that incident. The city officials are relieved that the incident today resulted in no vehicle damage or fatalities. Furthermore, after six and a half hours of clearing the fallen tree’s trunks and branches, the authorities were able to reopen the road to traffic.