COIMBATORE: A 76-year-old jamun tree planted by Mahatma Gandhi here has withstood the onslaught of time. A Congress councillor is planning to conduct special prayers near it on Republic Day.
Not many are aware that the tree stands tall inside the Coimbatore Market Committee complex at Ramanathapuram.
The committee’s chairman Nachimuthu and secretary M Rajagopal said the effort has been to preserve the tree as a legacy of Gandhiji. After a huge branch crashed down in torrential rain years ago, a mixture of cement and concrete was used to save the tree. A platform was raised around it and soil was dumped to strengthen its roots. Nobody is allowed to sit on the platform and cleaning is done daily. Prayers are conducted on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi every year. Tracing the history of the tree, a senior official said that Gandhiji was invited, during his visit here in 1934 to raise funds for Harijans, to plant a tree beside a private bungalow in which a Christian missionary used to keep bees and poultry.
After Independence, the government bought the land on behalf of Coimbatore Market Committee. Over the years many buildings were constructed on the site to accommodate the offices of Inspector of Matriculation Schools, IOB, Construction Workers Welfare Board, Agricultural Marketing and Agri Business, Agmark and turmeric auction centre on rental basis. V K S K Senthikumar, a councillor from the family of former Congress MLA V K Lakshmanan, told Express that to create awareness about the existence of the tree, he is planning to conduct prayers near the tree in memory of Gandhiji during Republic Day celebrations. R S Thirumugam, a resident of Ramanathapuram and ruling party leader in the corporation council, suggested that Coimbatore Market Committee which is maintaining the tree may join hands with the civic body to popularise the tree.