400-year-old African baobab tree falls in Surat

Surat: A majestic 400-year-old African Baobab tree also known as ‘chor amlo’,

standing tall on the main road at Adajan Gam

,

collapsed on Saturday evening.

The African Baobab tree at the road divider outside the Khodiyar Mata temple in Adajan was the centre of attraction for the environmentalists and local residents.

Sources said that the tree collapsed after breaking from its soft trunk. Due to the lockdown and the deserted roads, there was no damage reported due to the falling of the giant tree.

Dr S J Gautam, garden superintendent of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) said, “The tree collapsed after its trunk broke from the middle. Sometime ago, the branches of the tree had broken. The water content in the Baobab tree is about 60% and it has hallow trunk. Since it was the oldest tree, emotions of the people in Adajan were deeply attached to the tree.”

Dr Gautam added, “The fire and emergency department cleared the road immediately. There is no damage reported, except to the road divider”

Ajit Patel, a resident of Adajan Gam said, “I have my childhood memories attached to this tree. I was very much upset when the tree collapsed. I remember, we had protested against the SMC’s move to chop the tree for the road widening work many years ago.”

Another resident, Shailesh Prajapati said, “After coronavirus, this was another bad news for us. We are very much upset due to the collapse of the tree.”