Translocated trees show signs of life at Deocha Pachami
The Statesman | 25 November 2025
Ninety three per cent of the trees, which had been translocated at Deocha Pachami in Birbhum, are alive, creating a world record.
The district administration at Birbhum decided to translocate 992 trees from the site of Deocha Pachami, venue of the second largest coal block reserve in the world. The translocation process began on 14 February and ended on 8 May.
Shradhanjali Nursery, a Science and Technology Entrepreneurial Park (STEP) of IIT Kharagpur was assigned the job to translocate the trees. West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) bore the expenditure of translocation.
Experts from different parts of the country visited the new site comprising 19 acres of land and expressed satisfaction over the process followed during translocation. Babulal Mahato, additional district magistrate of Birbhum and himself a PhD holder in agriculture oversaw the translocation of trees. The huge trees were placed on heavy duty vehicles and shifted to the new venue. Every precaution was taken to save the trees from infection. Medicines were administered regularly. The officials were happy to see new leaves coming up. The trees got water during monsoon and now a green zone is in the process of coming up.
Mr Mahato said of the 992 trees that had been translocated, 742 were Mahua trees followed by 140 Arjun varieties. There were 99 Piyashal (Murga) trees followed by 2 Sirish and one Bel tree. Four joint trees comprising Mahua and Piyasal were also translocated.
Tribal people had initially put up resistance as they worship trees and thought they would be felled. Leaders of Adivasi organisations also visited the new venue and expressed satisfaction as none had been felled.