Coimbatore residents celebrate peepal tree’s 40th ‘birthday’

COIMBATORE:

Residents

of

Puliyakulam

in Coimbatore on Friday celebrated the 40th ‘birthday’ of a peepal

tree

in their locality by cutting a cake.

The tree was planted at the Karupparayan Kovil Street - Srirangan Street junction by the elders in the area. Youngsters said they had grown up with the tree.

Subsequently, people placed a Vinayagar idol under the tree and had constructed a small brick structure around it. Later as the tree grew in size, the structure started cracking.

“So, in June this year, we decided to pull down the structure and replace it with a new one, along with a strong platform around the tree. We took the idol and placed it in a nearby temple,” said Ramesh Varma, a resident of the locality.

“As the tree’s roots were interfering with water pipelines, we trimmed them on the side, leaving the tap root intact. But due to this, the tree started to shed its leaves. We were shocked to see this. So we consulted two agriculture students, and based on their suggestions we wrapped the cut portions of the roots with gunny cloth, and provided the tree with nutrients such as cowdung and also recycled leaves,” he said.

A month into this, the tree started to show signs of revival and put out new shoots. And the residents heaved a sigh of relief.

“After the tree was back to its former green, we decided to celebrate its 40th year on Friday. We cut a cake. We also placed a piece of cake for the tree,” he said.

Youngsters and residents, who have formed a group for the tree, said they would hereafter work to save and support trees which need care. They said they heard news of trees being translocated due to road works. In such cases, they said they were ready to help the trees revive.

On Thursday, members of the city-based environmental forum Osai translocated a 35-year-old

peepal

tree, which had to be removed from the Trichy Road due to the ongoing flyover work, to a residential complex in Kuniyamuthur.


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