123456 Kolkata: A thirty-year-old Radhachura tree (Peltophorum pterocarpum), which had uprooted more than 120 days ago inside the Victoria Memorial compound, was successfully replanted at the same spot on Sunday. The transplantation process started at 6 am. The uprooted 40ft tree was first trimmed to reduce its weight and around 12 pm, a 15-ton hydraulic crane, along with a payloader, managed to replant it in the same place.
A regular morning walker at Victoria Memorial for the last 40 years, Omprakash Baid (62), first contacted Sanjay Jaisingh, a city-based tree transplanting expert, followed by the approval from the Victoria Memorial authorities for the replantation initiative. "Three weeks ago, I noticed the tree lying on the ground during my visit to the compound," said Baid, a chartered accountant residing at Rowland Row. The tree lay near the southern gate of the Victoria Memorial ground throughout the rainy season.
"When I first saw the tree, I noticed that even though it was leaning badly, it had not completely uprooted. The main root was unhurt and that was a sign of hope for us," said Sarbani Roy, a botanist from KMC's parks & square department.
Samarendra Kumar, secretary and curator (in-charge) of Victoria Memorial, said, "It has always been our endeavour to protect, preserve, and conserve the environment around the Victoria Memorial Hall. The uprooted Radhachura was a full-grown tree, and we explored the possibility of replanting it so that we do not lose the tree. With the help of an NGO that has expertise in transplanting trees, we tried our best to correctly transpant the tree."
"The coming week will be a very crucial one. As the monsoon phase is over now, the tree requires 1000 litres of water every day for the next five days," said Jaisingh, founder of Mithri Mitti, an NGO that has expertise in transplanting trees. Preparing the soil for the tree was also very important. "We used vermicomposting soil to improve its quality.Fungicides and root aid were also used after the transplantation process ended," he added.