With markings from a white chalk on the trunk of a huge banyan tree serving as stumps, S. Mohan and his friends would play cricket at Raghavendra Park in Choolai.
Sixty-three-years-old now, Mohan is now in the forefront of an exercise to revive this banyan tree which took a server battering during Cyclone Vardah. He is assisted by residents of Choolai in this initiative.
“We waited for two years for the local officials of Greater Chennai Corporation to start the restoration of the tree, which is the centre of attraction at the park. With residents’ repeated pleas failing to evoke the desired response, we decided to take up this work,” says Mohan.
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It should be noted that a few days after the tree had been uprooted as a result of the cyclone, local civic officials inspected the damage to the tree. The civic body managed to replant the tree on the same spot where it had stood before being uprooted due to the cyclone.
However, residents allege, the job of replanting was done hurriedly without any scientific planning. The sand dug up for the replanting of the tree was not completely put back to level the surface around the tree. Instead, the accumulated sand was left as mounds around the tree. And then, there was no regular watering.
“The banyan tree was left not only to dry up, but also be a hindrance to walkers in the park,” says K. Priya, a resident.
When residents decided to restore the banyan tree, they formed teams, each consisting of five volunteers. The work of the volunteers include sourcing equipment for digging and levelling the sand around the tree, watering the plants including the tree in the park regularly, ensuring the banyan tree is not damaged by miscreants.
Above all, the volunteer-residents are levelling the small mounds of sand that were dumped around the tree. “The restoration of the banyan tree work will be completed soon,” says a confident Mohan.