PANAJI: For a decade or two, the dense, soothing shade of a 90-year-old banyan tree in Girkavaddo, Arambol, had been where several foreign visitors, most of them unknown to each other, had built a community. Lovingly called ‘The Source’, visitors connected at this quiet spot over informal sessions of yoga, meditation and dance, be it day or night.
Being located only around 500m from the beach, the sound of the lapping waves made the space under this banyan tree perfect to find solace
Thus, it came as no surprise then that when the tree came crashing down on August 5, during a heavy spell of rain accompanied by gusty winds, members of this informal community were heartbroken. What followed was an online crowd-funding effort to have the tree re-rooted. It was an ambitious project, given that it was the first such example in Goa, more so for a tree of this magnitude.
Over Tuesday and Wednesday, the tree was finally re-rooted, with the help of an expert in re-rooting banyan trees specially flown in for this project from Hyderabad.
It is a native of Finland, Santeri Saahko, who saw that the tree still had some roots intact in the soil, and decided it was not yet time to give up on ‘The Source’.
“We found support from many Goan voluntary organisations as well, and a crowd-funding effort to have the tree re-rooted was started,” Saahko said. “Gathering Rs 2 lakh proved easy, with funds coming in from admirers of ‘The Source’ the world over.”
“We found support from many Goan voluntary organisations as well, and a crowd-funding effort to have the tree re-rooted was started,” Saahko said. “Gathering Rs 2 lakh proved easy, with funds coming in from admirers of ‘The Source’ the world over.”
“It is the first time ever that such a re-rooting has been carried out in Goa. Small trees have been transplanted before, but this is a huge and old tree. This effort shows that if you have the will to do it, it is not very difficult,” said Miranda.
Having successfully carried out such re-rooting of banyan trees earlier elsewhere in the country, expert Uday Krishna of Vata Foundation found this project particularly challenging.
“There were many challenges,” he said. “There was no access to get a crane to this spot. So we tied ropes to the branches and pulled the tree up using JCBs. The tree was already down since August 5, so time was a factor as well. But even after re-rooting, the tree needs post-operative care, which locals and the community around the tree have promised to provide it.”
As decided by Krishna, workers were brought in to cut off the heavier branches to help the tree find its balance again when it was erected. A 3-4 ft deep hole was dug, for the tree’s roots to sink in, helping it stand upright again.
“Somewhere along the way, the aerial roots coming down from the trees, helping it to stay anchored, had been cut off,” Krishna said. “The original tree is around 90 years old. A few new trees had grown over this tree. The weight of these new trees and the lack of the anchor of aerial roots caused imbalance and caused the tree to fall.”
Marc Francis of the organisation Living Heritage said that from the Rs 2 lakh raised online, the balance would now be handed over to the Goan family who owns the land where the tree stands. He said the family will then provide the care needed for the tree post its re-rooting.
“Eco-champions for Goa made a short film on this banyan tree, which helped raise the necessary funds online,” said Francis.
Clive Phillips from England said that he now plans to have branches of the tree from ‘The Source’ planted at different locations across Arambol to help propogate the much-loved tree. “I want it to become a thousand trees,” said Phillips.
