30-ft-tall jamun tree spared the axe, translocated to govt school

A 30-foot-tall and 10-year-old jamun tree in Sarjapur on the southern outskirts of Bengaluru has been translocated to a government school.

Residents of KR Beedhi in Sarjapur were having problems with the tree. They enlisted the services of Devaraj Lakshmaiah, a tree cutter-turned-tree saviour, to translocate the tree to the government school in Sarjapur.

Devaraj, who has vowed to not cut down any good trees, decided to contribute Rs 5,000 for translocating the tree. The whole exercise cost Rs 20,000. The remaining Rs 15,000 was provided by an industrialist from Rajarajeshwari Nagar, who was keen on translocating some trees in his area, said V R Joy, the secretary of Sarjapur Residents’ Welfare Association. More than 400 schoolchildren also participated in the effort.

According to Joy, RWA members did not do much for the translocation as it was initiated by Devaraj.

The students have decided to provide natural manure for the tree. The panchayat will water it while women members of the RWA will provide for medical treatment of the tree and take care of it. Devaraj said he would translocate as many trees in the city as possible and ensure they were taken care of.

The RWA has translocated four trees in Sarjapur, including the jamun tree, and has identified four more for translocation to nearby areas so that they are not axed for road-widening and other infrastructure projects, Joy said.