MUMBAI: Mumbai mayor Ritu Tawde has rejected the civic administration’s inquiry report into the Chembur tree collapse that killed 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastava, and ordered a fresh investigation, saying the report appeared to shield officials despite repeated warnings about damage to the tree’s roots.
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Tawde rejected the report in favour of a third-party audit, on the floor of the house on Thursday.
The mayor’s intervention came after leader of the house Ganesh Khankar raised a point of order objecting to the report’s findings. Khankar said the administration had imposed only a ₹5-lakh penalty on the contractor and ₹2-lakh on the consultant, while effectively giving a clean chit to officials from the roads and garden departments.
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Khankar asked what role assistant engineers in the roads department played. “Are we here only to work for contractors,” he remarked.
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He recalled visiting Vihaan’s family, saying the child’s mother was so grief-stricken, she couldn’t speak. “No family should ever have to face such a tragedy,” he said, while demanding an independent, third-party audit.
Khankar cited letters sent by the civic garden department to the roads department in April 2025 and January 2026. He said the letters contained photographs showing that excavation work for a water pipeline on Road Nos. 11 and 21 in Sindhi Society, Collector Colony, had damaged the tree’s roots. The garden department had warned that continued excavation and dumping of debris near the tree could weaken it and increase the risk of collapse during the monsoon. He claimed the letters also said that if the tree were to fall, the roads department would be responsible.
Tawde backed the demand for a fresh probe and said she could not accept a report that valued a child’s life at ₹7 lakh, the collective penalty. She said she had inspected the road where concreting work had been carried out and had instructed officials to ensure proper inspection of trees. “Despite repeated letters from various departments, they were effectively thrown into the dustbin.” She added that the inquiry report had absolved the roads and garden departments while placing the blame only on the contractor and consultant.
Responding to the criticism, the administration said the June 30 incident was “extremely unfortunate” and that the inquiry committee consisted of independent, experienced and impartial senior engineers. The senior civic official said the tree in Chembur was found to be hollow and affected by fungal decay, and that multiple factors may have contributed to its collapse.
“If the garden department officer knew the tree had internal decay, responsibility cannot be denied,” said Tawde.
