The Telangana forest department administered saline treatment to a centuries-old tree in the Mahbubnagar district of the state to save its life. The tree is touted as the second largest banyan tree in the world. It is locally called ‘Pillalamarri’ (children’s Banyan tree).
The department authorities started administering Chloropyrifos. It is the only effective treatment to control termites. First, a trench around the root system was made and forest officials watered the root system with diluted Chloropyrifos – mixing 20 mililitre of it for every one litre of water.
Similarly, holes were made around the affected areas of the trunk and branches pumped the diluted insecticide using pressure pumps.
It was then, the department authorities stumbled upon the idea of injecting diluted insecticide into the tree like a saline drip. “We thought sending diluted insecticide into the affected parts drop by drop like a saline drip might help. We hung hundreds of saline bottles filled with insecticide every two metres. It is working very well,” an official said.
