400 year old banyan tree saved after locals interrupt
Mumbai, July 25: A 400-year-old banyan tree that was to be chopped for a highway road project in Maharashtra's Sangli district has been saved after locals raised awareness of the matter on social media.
Taking note of this, Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray had requested Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to make changes to the project.
Won't celebrate 60th birthday this year, says Uddhav Thackeray
Thackeray later tweeted that his request was accepted.
Recommended Video
Residents
of
Bhose
village
rallied
around
the
tree
whose
canopy
is
spread
over
400
sq
m.
State
Tourism
and
Environment
Minister
Aaditya
Thackeray,
on
July
16,
wrote
a
letter
to
Union
Minister
for
Road
Transport
and
Highways
Nitin
Gadkari
requesting
for
the
tree
to
be
saved
by
making
changes
to
the
Ratnagiri-Solapur
highway
which
is
on
state
highway
166
that
pass
through
the
village.
Thackeray tweeted on Wednesday that Gadkari had responded positively to the request.
Later the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) begun reworking on the realignment of the highway.
A senior official of the NHAI said, "A relook at the plan was done to save the tree. The main carriageway will require trimming some branches of the tree but changes will be made to the service road by making it discontinuous for about 20-25 m to keep the tree's trunk intact."
The 400-year-old tree, near a Yellamma Mandir, had a spread of nearly 400 square metres and had been a part of the history of the area as well as is home to many species of birds and animals.