Howrah: The grand old banyan tree at the Indian Botanic Garden is walking. With the prop roots as its legs, the Great Banyan Tree is heading eastward and threatening to cross fences built around it.
The prop roots, which have been carrying the weight of the tree since 1925 when its main trunk was destroyed because of a fungal infection, have crossed the first fence built around the tree and will soon outgrow the second one too.
"In 30 years, the Great Banyan Tree has grown over two acres," said Arabinda Pramanick, the outgoing joint director of the garden. "The first boundary was built around the tree in 1985 and the second one in 2015. We have some open space around it for it to grow further," he said.
The prop roots are often "trained" to grow at a certain angle to support the branches, numbered 3,960 in June 2016 and 4,110 at present.
"To the west of the tree there is housing and pollution, so the tree does not grow that way. It is growing towards the east, towards sunlight. This is called photoperiodism," said M.U. Sharief, joint director, Botancial Survey of India, who looks after the tree and heads the 13-member team that "trains" the prop roots.
"We make a bamboo channel by splitting bamboo poles and putting fertilisers in them. We then direct the tender prop roots into the bamboo channel positioned at such an angle that it can support the overhead branch. Soon the prop roots grow and attach themselves to the ground, supporting the branch. We then discard the bamboo channels," Sharief explained.
The Great Banyan Tree resembles a miniature forest with a thick canopy overhead and ferns and orchids growing on its branches. Many a fauna, including mongoose, jackals and birds, have made the tree their home.
The garden authorities do everything possible to protect the oldest living tree in the garden, but vandalism continues. Some of the young prop roots bear marks of carvings and etches.
An artistic structure resembling the trunk of the banyan tree will be built at the site of the original trunk.