15-Year-Old Peepal Tree Translocated From College In Odisha’s Berhampur City

Berhampur: A 15-year-old peepal tree was uprooted from a college campus and replanted in Berhampur city of Odisha’s Ganjam district.

About 20 volunteers of Sabuja Bahini, an organisation working for greenery in the city, uprooted the tree which was standing between the walls of a latrine and boundary of Ramadhin Sanskrit College under Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC). The tree is 30 feet high and weighed about 700 kg.

The volunteers transported it on a tractor trolley and replanted it in a hole dug for the purpose near a water body at Sukunda under Kukudakhandi block. Interestingly, they used no machine for the work. With the help of some ropes, 3 crowbars and manpower, they completed the job in 10 hours.

“We had requested Deputy Commissioner of the BeMC Binod Behera to give us a tractor with a trolley which he provided,” said Sibaram Panigrahi, president of Sabuja Bahini. The college authority intended to cut the tree into pieces and kill it after the roof of the latrine cracked and got damaged.

A 5 feet deep and 3X6 feet hole was dug near a waterbody at Sukunda for the roots to sink in. After re-rooting, the volunteers offered prayer to the peepal tree. They have pledged to take post-operative care of it. Sabuja Bahini has translocated about 25 trees in Berhampur till today, said Panigrahi.