CHENNAI: Residents of Indira Nagar in Adyar said that they stalled attempts to cut down a 30-year-old banyan tree on Sunday by Corporation workers, who they suspect were acting at the request of a local resident. Due to the opposition, the staff only pruned the branches.
When contacted, a senior corporation official said he was unaware that the workers went to cut the tree and he would check. “Usually we prune trees and if at all it is very disturbing to the residents, we take it down after getting permission from the higher officials,” said the zonal officer of Adyar who promised to look into the issue.
It was alleged that the resident of Indira Nagar in question had asked the corporation to cut down the banyan tree that has been standing there for more than three decades.
“The branches of the tree were entering his house and hence he wanted to cut down the tree, which we all opposed” said Pasupathi, a retired railway supervisor who lives in the same area. Express could not contact the particular resident for his comments on Sunday.
The banyan tree was planted by Exnora, a non-governmental environmental service organisation. “With deforestation happening on a larger scale, it is the trees that help us,” said Nirmal, founder of Exnora. “That too, a tree that is so big and stands for many years.”
Nirmal explained that there were ways to stop the branches and roots of the tree getting inside your premises without having to cut the tree. “For instance, if the roots are penetrating inside the house one could cut that particular root and fix a steel or concrete slab and the tree will change its course of direction,” he said. “I am running this laundry shop for more than 30 years and I witnessed the tree grow into a massive shelter,” said Chinnappan.
“This is one tree in the neighbourhood that provides shade for a long distance.” “We wrote a letter to the senior corporation official asking them not to take down the tree” said Pasupathi. Though the senior corporation official denied having received such a letter, he said that cutting the tree is not an easy task.