Another tree collapse death as relentless rain triggers chaos in Mumbai | Mumbai News

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the victim, identified as Yunush Kundawala, was standing next to a roadside shop when the tree suddenly uprooted and crashed onto the structure, trapping him underneath. Residents and emergency first responders managed to pull him out, but he was declared dead upon arrival at a local hospital.

A video of the incident that went viral on social media showed a crowded street at the time of the collapse. While Kundawala was fatally trapped, several other pedestrians narrowly escaped.

This marks the second death caused by a tree collapse in Mumbai within a single week, and the third in the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

On June 30, Vihaan Srivastava, an 11-year-old boy, died after , a large peepal tree uprooted and crashed on a school van carrying children home in Chembur. On July 2, Aslam Isak Shaikh, 55, died after falling into an open manhole where civic workers were conducting pre-monsoon maintenance.

In a separate rain-related incident on Sunday, a wall from an under-construction building collapsed onto a multi-storey car parking facility of an adjacent building in Nehru Nagar, Kurla East. While no casualties were reported, the debris severely damaged several parked vehicles.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and Raigad districts amid torrential rainfall. This is the second consecutive day that Mumbai has recorded over 200 mm of rainfall within a 24-hour window.

As per the IMD, the Santacruz observatory recorded 227.7 mm of rainfall by 8.30 am on Sunday, while the Colaba coastal observatory registered 265.6 mm during the same timeframe.

According to the BMC’s automated weather system, Mumbai’s eastern suburbs received 217 mm of rainfall, while the island city recorded 194 mm and the western suburbs experienced 186 mm.

An IMD official told The Indian Express that a low-pressure system developing over Maharashtra will likely extend the heavy downpours through the middle of the week. Residents have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel and to stay away from waterlogged areas.