Hyderabad: Elderly man dies as uprooted tree falls on him in Old City

Hyderabad: A 65-year-old person died and over a dozen people were severely injured when a big tree got uprooted and fell on the road in Shamsheergunj in Old City on Monday. Half a dozen vehicles were also reportedly damaged.

The deceased has been identified as Mohd Saleh, a resident of Chandulal Baradari. According to the police, a big tree, which was over two-decades old, all of a sudden got uprooted and fell on the busy road from Shamsheergunj to Kalapather at around 2 pm on Monday. A few pedestrians who were walking on the road and three persons who were in an auto rickshaw and a scooter came under the tree.

“A tree fell on Saleh while he was walking on the road. He sustained injuries and got trapped under the tree. The local people and police rescued him and shifted to hospital where he died,” said a police officer.

The locals who noticed the incident rushed to the rescue of the people who were trapped and pulled them out. Two persons were shifted to the hospital for treatment.

The Shalibanda police and Falaknuma traffic police on coming to know about the incident arrived at the spot and informed the GHMC. The DRF team of the GHMC and other wing personnel arrived and started cutting down the tree to make way for traffic.

Following the incident, the people demanded the GHMC immediately take up a survey of all the trees located on the stretch and take steps to cut down or translocate trees that have weak foundations.

Mohammed Ahmed, a local activist said that following several complaints to take up the tree surveys and chop down the trees with weak foundations, the department failed; however, the horticulture wing and electricity department officials play a blame game on the complaints, which leads to such accidents.

“We demand the GHMC as well as electricity to take up the surveys and take steps to prevent such incidents,” he added.