One student dead, 16 injured as tree falls on them in Carmel Convent School, Chandigarh

A 16-year-old student of Carmel Convent School in Sector 9 died and 16 of her school mates were injured when a 70-feet peepal tree, declared a heritage tree by the administration, fell on them while they were playing on the campus on Friday morning.

The injured also included a woman bus conductor, Sheela, 40, who is critical and under ICU observation at PGIMER.

The deceased has been identified as Heerakshi, 16, a student of Class 10-C.

Also read: Chandigarh: GMSH-16 all set to go digital; access services on phone

The UT administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. The committee headed by SDM (Central), with a horticulture executive engineer and range forest officer as members, has been asked to submit its report within a week.

The school authorities said the incident took place around 11.30 am when only 10 minutes of the recess were remaining. Some students were either sitting and having lunch or playing in the open around the tree near Gate Number 2 of the school when a portion of the tree came crashing down on them.

Standing 70 feet tall —the average height of a five-storey building – the peepal tree is 250 years old, according to a plaque installed on the campus by the administration. It came crashing nearly 48 hours after the city recorded 97 mm rain on Wednesday morning, the second heavy spell this monsoon and the heaviest in July since 2017. On June 30, when monsoon was declared in the city, 68.2 mm rain was recorded.

A senior UT official, said, “As per preliminary observations, the tree got partially uprooted and its trunk broke off as it fell. The bystanders informed that the tree collapsed so quickly that the students didn’t get any time to run. Heavy rain and strong winds couple of days ago seem to have played a role in loosening the soil, and could have also caused the adjacent neem tree to dislodge the peepal tree.”

Another official, who visited the site, said the tree could be affected by termites as well that could have caused the trunk to become weak and snap.

Carmel Convent, an all-girls school and one of the oldest educational institutions in Chandigarh, termed it a “major natural disaster”. “We all grieve the loss of the young life and pray that God give the family strength in this time of mourning,” the statement from the school said.

As the school shared information about the incident on Friday morning, worried parents gathered outside the school. Parents even raised slogans against the school and damaged two school buses parked on the premises.

After summer vacations ended recently, the school was open in full strength. Later in the evening, the school announced that it will remain closed for all classes till further notice. An AGM and PTM scheduled at the school on Saturday were also cancelled.

Injured students stable

While the 16 injured students were stated to be stable, the injured woman bus conductor remains on ventilator support at PGIMER.

According to the school, nine of the 16 students were taken to GMSH-16, another four went to Fortis Hospital, Mohali, and two to Mukat Hospital, Chandigarh.

Heerakshi and a 15-year-old student, Ishita, were rushed to Advanced Trauma Centre, PGIMER, where the former was declared brought dead. The latter underwent surgery for multiple injuries, which doctors said was successful.

Among the students treated at GMSH-16, Sejal, 16, who suffered a spinal fracture, was also referred to PGIMER. She is said to be stable and conscious. Another student at GMSH-16, Prisha, suffered a hip fracture and is under observation. The remaining seven students were discharged after treatment. The students taken to Fortis Hospital and Mukat Hospital were also discharged.

Following their investigation, police registered a case under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 334 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector-3 police station.

Confirming this, UT SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal said, “A case has been registered against unknown persons for now. Investigation is underway and as names of those responsible become clear, they will be added in the FIR.”

Those found guilty under Section 304-A can be imprisoned for a term up to two years or fine or both. Section 334 entails jail for up to three months or fine or both.

“A committee of officials from MC, forest department and horticulture wing has been constituted to visit schools and other institutions, and inspect trees in and around the premises to avoid any such incident,” an official spokesman said. UT school education director Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar said, “We will also inspect all schools to ensure that such an unfortunate incident doesn’t happen again.”

UT social welfare secretary Nitika Pawar also issued directions to the chairperson of the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) to conduct child safety audit at all schools across the UT. A team, comprising various departments, including social welfare, health, engineering, education, MC, forest, child protection unit and police, is to be constituted for ensuring that students are provided with a conducive and safe environment.

Heerakshi’s parents Pankaj Kumar and Daman, who were in Shimla, reached PGIMER by Friday evening and along with relatives were inconsolable. Her father is a caterer and runs a sweet shop in Sector 35.

Her uncle Rajeev Kumar alleged that the school did not inform them about Heerakshi’s death while informing them about the incident and just said a tree had fallen and she had been taken to PGIMER. “We found out about her death through the news. Responsibility for the incident must be fixed and since the tree was present on the school campus, they must also take responsibility for the accident,” he said.

While other family members refused to speak to the media, they said Heerakshi, youngest of two daughters, was a bright child and good at studies.

Police said an autopsy will be conducted on Saturday, following which the cremation will be held at the Sector-25 cremation ground.

The school principal and teachers also reached PGIMER to check on the girl’s family and the attendant and other students admitted there, but refused to speak to the media.

UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit, adviser Dharam Pal and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal expressed their condolences to the family of the deceased.

Conservation of heritage trees responsibility of institute, says UT administration

Following the incident, the UT administration maintained that there was no request or complaint from the school for cutting the tree that collapsed.

The 250 years old peepal tree is among 31 trees notified as heritage trees in 2017.

“The Heritage Trees order issued by the administration in December 2017, puts the onus for protection, preservation and conservations on the departments/institutions where the trees are standing,” said Debendra Dalai, chief conservator of forests, UT.

The UT engineering department and municipal corporation cannot cut or prune these trees without prior approval of the administration, states the order.

As per the procedure, the institution where the tree is located has to inform the UT engineering department for cutting a heritage tree, which forwards it to the UT forest department.

Dalai said, “There was no request from the school for cutting the tree that fell on Friday. But there were no signs that the tree was a dead tree or unhealthy. We have to wait for the report of the magisterial inquiry for concluding the exact reasons for the collapse.”

He said a couple of years ago, the school had put a request for removal of a mango tree, which had been cut.

On the condition of the rest of the heritage trees, Dalai said, “There is no request for cutting of any of these trees. There was a request for cutting a mango tree in Sector 19 during the Covid period last year. It was infested with termites and was treated for it.”

While the school authorities remained unavailable for a comment, in a statement to the media earlier in the day, the school authorities stated, “The heritage (peepal) tree that stood near Gate 2 fell without warning.”

31 heritage trees in Chandigarh

The criteria for designating a tree as a heritage tree includes its age (100 years or more), social and educational value, historical significance, landmarks of a community and location in a notable grove.

One of the oldest trees is a peepal tree in Khuda Ali Sher village, said to be more than 350 years old and is located at a gurdwara’s entrance. A 300-year-old banyan tree is also located in Dadumajra.

These trees were identified in a joint survey of the UT forests and wildlife department and NGO Yuvsatta. In all, 77 trees that are more than 100 years old were identified and recommended for “heritage status”.

Eventually, 31 trees were given the heritage tag. Among them, 15 are peepal, 11 banyan, four mango and one earpod.

Four of these are in Sector 18, three each in Sector 9 (one of which fell on Friday) and Sector 12; two each in Sectors 17, 19, 23, 24 and 36; and one each in Sectors 10, 21, 27, 28, 29, 34, 35 and 38, Dadumajra, Maloya and Sukhna Lake.