The Digha Malda mango may soon become history if the government doesn't step in immediately to save the variety.

Environmentalists are demanding serious efforts from the state government to save it from extinction as nothing has been done since 2012-13.

All efforts to save the famous Digha Malda variety from extinction have failed and only 1,000 trees remain, which too, are dying a slow death.

"Our efforts to save the Digha Malda mangoes from extinction have failed. Botanists and scientists have been unable to pinpoint why the remaining trees are dying. Planting new saplings in the area have also not been successful," said Father Robert Athickal, the founder and director of Tarumitra, a nationwide students' movement to protect environment and promote bio-diversity.

"Only 1,000 trees remain and the government should work to preserve the genes of this variety of mango," Athickal added.

Preserving the genes involves making saplings of this particular variety of mango and planting them elsewhere in the state, or even outside and bringing it back to Digha and adjacent areas in Patna at an opportune time.

"This activity could be taken on a large scale only by the state government, and will be useful in the future when all the adult trees of this variety of mango vanish," Athickal said.

For generations the Digha Malda variety of mangoes were rated among the finest in the world because of their sweetness, aroma, thin skin, less fibre, small seed and mellow yellow colour, till unbridled construction activities wiped out almost all its orchards from the northwestern parts on the outskirts of Patna. The name of the particular variety has been derived from Digha area on the outskirts of northwest Patna, where the trees flourished during yesteryears. As the number of trees dwindled, worried environmentalists rushed to protect them. They employed all means, called specialists to Patna for the purpose. But nothing worked and the mango trees kept dying rapidly.

St Xavier's College in Digha had 500 mango trees of this variety till a few years ago, but they kept dying. Now only 100 remain on the campus and even they are withering.

"We consulted environmentalists Sundarlal Bahuguna of Chipko Movement and Vandana Shiva. They said the Digha Malda was in the throes of cyclical destruction. This area was full of mango trees of just one variety till a couple of decades ago and nature was balancing this anomaly, as it doesn't tolerate monoculture. Similar destruction of sheesham trees have happened in Bihar in 1990s," Athickal said.

It's not that the state government has been oblivious to the problems, but the most recent effort to save the mango variety was in 2012-13 by the horticulture directorate. "At that time we had got prepared saplings of Digha Malda at our Danapur nursery and distributed them among farmers. However, nothing was done after that. Funds have been a problem," said Ajay Kumar, the deputy director of horticulture.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar had been rooting for protection of Digha Malda and had instructed officials concerned to plant its saplings at government quarters and bungalows. But no concrete step was taken to follow it. In fact, there has been no government survey of surviving trees so far.

Mango connoisseurs could still buy Digha Malda directly from the places where the trees still survive but keep their fingers crossed that the coming generation doesn't have to hear stories of extinct Digha Malda variety.