GUJAR KHAN: The bid to reinstate a gigantic banyan tree by a non-governmental organisation has won applause of the locals and tree lovers at large.

A centuries-old banyan tree alongside G.T. Road in Mandra had fallen during the Thursday night storm. This huge tree, like many others in the recent past, was being chopped, with its branches being taken away by locals for fuel when a group of social workers led by Khawaja Mazhar stepped in.

They mobilised the forest department as well as the local enthusiasts and assured them that the trunk of this mega tree could be restored to its original shape with a special technique.

After 36 hours of effort, the tree trunk was erected with the help of a crane.

Special manures and fertilisers added to speed up recovery

Mazhar Khawaja told Dawn that its hole was deepened and special manures and fertilisers were added before the tree was put in the ground.

Mr Khawaja who represents the Agri-Tourism Development Corporation said that his team was experienced in restoring fallen trees. He regretted that such ancient trees were being neglected and no protection techniques were being adopted by the authorities.

Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf, former secretary of forests, said that the banyan were wonderful trees that grow over the centuries.

He said the tree had been popular in this region of Potohar since the days of Alexander the Great. The retired officer said that banyan “is a sacred tree for the Hindus and Buddhists and the Potohar region”.

He claimed that every village and town in the pre-partition days used to have “water ponds bordered by banyan and Peepal trees and they still exist”.

Mr Ashraf said that the number of such ponds was shrinking in the region due to urbanisation, adding that such ponds were very helpful in maintaining the water table in the villages.

He regretted that the water ponds constructed during the pre-partition era were being eliminated and the banyan trees were either dying or chopped down by people.

He said that he launched efforts to plant saplings of banyan in some villages and educational institutions as the plant species “represented the national heritage that needed to be preserved”.

Talking about the rehabilitation of the affected tree in Mandra, he said that the attempt was the first of its kind in the region.

Mr Khawaja appreciated the cooperation extended by the chief conservator of forests in Rawalpindi and the range forest officer who supervised and assisted the operation. He expressed hope that three months looking after of this trunk would help it to affirm its roots in the earth.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2023