International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 11, Issue 8, August 2020, pp. 1297-1313, Article ID: IJM_11_08_118 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=8 ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 DOI: 10.34218/IJM.11.8.2020.118

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SURVIVAL CHALLENGES IN ’S URBANISING TRANSFORMATION: GRASSROOTS EFFORTS TOWARDS SAVING THE IN GREATER BENGALURU

Suresh Kumar Gigoo and Beena Gigoo Gigoo Omni Quality Enterprises, Bengaluru, India

Aakriti Gigoo and Satyavrat Sopori Tata Consultancy Services, Pune, India

ABSTRACT Trees( Benghalensis) in India are as associated and related to Indian subcontinent as rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Kaveri, Krishna, Narmada, Brahmaputra or Himalayas and Vindhyas. They are the national trees of India. These magnificent trees are green giants and a treat to locate, identify, admire and find from a distance with full green foliage and gigantic size canopy and a huge trunk with aerial roots at many places within the canopy. India has some of the largest Banyan trees in the world. Giant Banyan trees can be viewed in various geographical regions in India. Some of the largest of these trees are in Ananthpur, Lucknow, , Narora, Bengaluru, Chennai, and many other cities. Banyan trees have survived and thrived for hundreds of years in India. But India’s growing urbanisation, population explosion and significantly the way of life away from nature is posing fresh severe challenges to the survival, sustenance, growth and long term future of these green giants. There is a crying need to save these beautiful wonders of Nature across India and abroad. While saving them will be a huge leap in environment sustenance, it will be victory for survival of mini ecosystems also which these trees nurture. Monkeys, birds, ants and other numerous creatures will benefit and thrive. This book/paper will attempt to cover the issues impacting the survival of Banyan trees in current historic urbanising transformation of India, including its attendant ills like traffic, noise, space encroachment, hawking,. SAVE THE BANYANS movement is picking up traction in Greater Bengaluru with active efforts initiated by Gigoo Omni Quality Enterprises team and volunteers/partners/passionate youth in recent months. Ironically, the march of urbanisation can also be a saviour if the active co-operation of housing societies, people, authorities is forthcoming.

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Keywords: Banyan trees,Save the Banyan Trees, Urbanisation, Mini Ecosytem. Cite this Article: Suresh Kumar Gigoo, Beena Gigoo, Aakriti Gigoo and Satyavrat Sopori, Survival Challenges In India’s Urbanising Transformation: Grassroots Efforts Towards Saving The Banyans Trees In Greater Bengaluru, International Journal of Management, 11(8), 2020, pp. 1297-1313. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=8

1. INTRODUCTION India has been blessed with one of the best Nature’s green giant wonders of Banyan trees. The Banyan trees are truly majestic, tall and broad with heavy green foliage all around from the central trunk. The is as equated to India as rivers Ganga and Kaveri or mountains like Himalayas and Nilgiris. The tree has been surviving in India without significant disturbance till even 50 years ago. However, the times are changing. In the rat race of economic development, urbanization and rapid urbanization, the trees are facing severe pressure to grow, survive, thrive and live optimally. This paper is an attempt towards the sensitization on the issues on the crying need to save the Banyan trees across India in general and Greater Bengaluru in particular.

2. SALIENT FEATURES OF BANYAN TREES The Banyan trees and Peepal trees are like the tigers and lions of India’s green ecosystem. They are an ecosystem in themselves. Their large size, spread, canopy and mighty sweep give a royal look once they achieve full maturity. While from a distance they look similar, but coming closer and closer brings out the salient differences. The leaf pattern, prop roots, fruits are different. The Banyan tree is also well known for many pharmacological remedies1 having range of roles in Anti-helminthic, Anti stress and Anti allergy,anti oxidant, anti microbial,anti tumour, anti diarrhoeal, anti tumour and anti fungal activities. Biomolecules from Banyan tree are increasingly being leveraged for disease prevention purposes. Successful production of Quercetin from cell cultures was reported 2 .It is a flavonol having properties of being anti cancerous,anti bacterial, anti inflammatory,anti pyretic and anti diarrheal. As a sensitive indicator and barometer of lead pollution, Banyan tree has been found to be effective by several studies 3.Another leveraging of barometer to pollution has been reported4. In ever popular Ayurveda medicine system in India, Banyan tree has been effectively used in cure for diarrhoea,dysentery,piles5. The salient features/vital statistics of Banyan trees will cover the following aspects:-  Thick central trunk with many aerial/prop roots emerging in all directions  Huge Canopy of branches, leaves all around  Vital statistics include Diameter of Main trunk, height, perimeter coverage  A mini ecosystem in itself with many /animals leveraging its stature  Imposing and visually appealing from even great distance  Foliage density  Area, circumference, perimeter of ground covered  Prop roots numbers and density  Spread pattern  Main Trunk size and diameter

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 Alignment  Extent of Underground spread of roots  Future growth potential and ease/restrictions imposed by man/geography  Undergrowth pattern and density  Resistance resiliency to natural calamities like cyclones/floods/earthquakes

3. CHALLENGES FACED BY BANYAN TREES IN CURRENT CONTEXT IN INDIA Banyan Trees are India’s National trees. This may be a good aspect. But it is not a source of satisfaction or guarantee that they will be self protected or public will leave them like a holy cow. The challenges faced by crowded and increasingly urbanising India by Banyan trees are creating host of existential, survival, growth challenges for these green giants. Some of the points relevant are as enumerated below:-  Illegal squatting/encroachments of hawkers/shops under the banyan trees in the cities.  Repair shops/Tyre repair shops constructed under the trees creating lot of vibrations of vehicles while they are being tested.  Unabated permission of construction in the vicinity of Banyan trees including besides cemeteries, thus, limiting the scope and area of growth.  Construction of hutments and thatched houses under the trees, thus, robbing the trees of its growth of crucial prop roots.  Though some Banyan trees have places of worship as their protection shields but they bring too much crowd there, thus, creating pressures on the tree growth.  While we may feel happy to have DODDA ALADA MARA(Big Banyan tree) type giant Banyan trees in Bengaluru, but it is not enough. For an old city like Bengaluru, 100 such similar trees are required.(As an analogy, think like a big jungle. Is only one Lion or Tiger sufficient for the geography of Bengaluru like size? Clearly no).Several Banyan giants in India are also existing in many places including Kolkata,Lucknow,Kabirvad,Narora7 and Ananthpur8.  Prop roots of Banyan trees are like their lifeblood of future growth and expansion. But these roots are the first casualty in the melee of crowded areas and urbanization transformation. Further, these prop roots are also misused by the children and even grown ups in a cavalier and irresponsible manner.  While our economists and planners discuss and discuss on improving life expectancy of people, no one discusses the enhancement of such parameter for Banyan trees. Average life expectancy of Banyan trees is under severe threat.  The Banyan trees planted on either sides of our roads and highways are always on a ticking “chopping time bomb”. Their fate will depend less on God than some planners of construction persons in plush air conditioned offices. Also, the public will watch tamasha as Banyans get crushed/chopped off/cut off/lifted away.  While cricket in India may be great news for ambitious players and the support ecosystem of cricket-Bollywood complex, it is not good news for Banyans. More and more young people are flocking to the open spaces/public parks to play cricket among themselves.But this playing wreaks havoc on Banyans with heavy hits and fours of cricket balls killing the tree branches and leaves. Crying of Banyans in Banyan country India is getting unheard, unattended and unaddressed.

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 Acute pressure on land resources as a consequence of growing influx of people to big cities/mid size cities. The trees having no voices/lung power/votes become the casualties. The mass destruction weapons for them are not nuclear or biological weapons but “weapons” like JCBs, bulldozers, concrete mixers and concrete pumps. They are able to reach any nook and corner and bulldoze on the Banyans without any remorse. Banyan Giants are helpless. Vandalization is not a hesitation in dense areas of cities. Recently, one Banyan was half saved by the efforts of authors in Langford Town area in Central Bengaluru as seen in images below.

Figure 1 Banyan trees in congested and dense core of megacities are facing severe pressure to survive and grow as evidenced here where chopping of branches and roots is underway

4. STRATEGY FOR SAVING, PROTECTION, CONSERVATION AND GROWTH OF BANYAN TREES Banyan Trees are India’s National trees. This may be a good aspect. But it is not a source of satisfaction. Banyan Trees will need a special Strategy for saving, protection and growth. The statistics should be discussed openly and in media platforms in the way we discuss the Q1,Q2, Q3,Q4 figures of corporate results. The infographic below gives some basic aspects of the Strategy:-

Figure 1 Basic Strategy Matrix for Saving India’s Banyan trees

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Certain points for consideration are as follows:-  Develop a sense of ownership and pride in saving the Banyans as National symbols of Indian pride and heritage.  Saving Strategy will include “saving, protecting, enhancing life of current Banyan assets” and growing them more in many places in the heart of civilized areas. At the heart of saving, the leveraging of emerging trends in IT/IOT/AI/Drone and CCTV surveillance/sensors will be necessary and will be ears and eyes to save these green giants/emerging green giants. Illustration below enumerates this concept:-

BANYAN SAVE TRAJECTORY

4

SET UP SURVEILLANCE AND DAILY REPORTING MECHANISM LEVERAGING IT/AI/IOT / TECHNOLOGIES 3

ALLOT INDIVIDUAL GREEN AADHAR NUMBER TO BANYANS 2

POSITIVELY CORDON AND FENCE THE AREAS 1

IDENTIFY AND CATALOGUE ALL THE AREAS WHERE BANYANS ARE EXISTING

Figure 2 Sequence of events envisaged to SAVE THE BANYAN TREES in India  Rope in the support of the youth and women for raising awareness of usefulness of planting Banyan trees.  Formulate by- laws for compulsory planting of Banyans in Housing societies, malls, transport hubs, Government housing complexes/offices, Central Business hubs, Heritage monuments, Army units, big religious complexes, airports, traffic islands, river ghats, hospitals, Agriculture marts, all corporate Headquarters,Parliament and State Assemblies  Leverage the symbolism of longevity of trees for improving/enhancing the lives of Banyan trees.Also leverage historic milestones associated with the trees.  Construction Moratorium in the radius of 2 km from core trunk of Banyan trees across India.  Leverage the success story of Saving the Tigers to motivate people to save the trees.  Declare Banyan trees as “protected trees” analogous to what Arcaheological Survey of India(ASI) does for “protected Archaeological monuments”.An example of board displayed near these protected banyans could be as follows:-

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PROTECTED TREE

1. This is India’s National tree. BANYAN 2. This tree is protected as per the new Environment laws of India 3.Any felling,vandalisation,cutting or defacing the tree is a non bailable offence and punishable with an imprisonment of 5 years or fine of Rs 1,00,000 or both 4. Support this tree growth by paying online donation at www.moef.gov.in

Figure 3 Cautionary Board recommended to be placed near all Banyan trees  Outsourcing protection of trees to licensed bidders for 99 years initially with incentive of privileges/subsidies in ads placed in Govt media channels.  Place sensors and CCTVs at strategic locations to get real time status of trees health, sabotage/vandalisation/misuse,if any.Display the status in a similar way as we now have for pollution parameters in many cities in India.  Uniquely identify Banyans through Aadhar issuance to nearest household/society with certain incentives.  Ensure no encroachment/no hawking zones close to Banyan trees.  Enforce protection using fencing and emerging technologies like AI ,Remote monitoring, IOT ,drones.  Encourage corporate houses and hotels to not only ornamental trees but Banyans also.  Massive dose of plantation of Banyans in Cantonments ,IT parks,public parks,religious places,river ghats,fort complexes,educational institutions ,court complexes and cemetries/war memorials.  Laws to curb vandalisation, damage or uprooting of branches and roots of Banyans.  Compulsory Banyan Parks in all cities with electronic surveillance/fencing.  Leverage the religious ecosystem to plant Banyan trees in the compounds of all religious places.  Build up affiliation ownership of Banyans as part of family by having an affiliated/linked Banyan tree to people living in the vicinity/volunteers. Certain incentives could also be thought of to build this kind of novel formalized/structured owneship. Human style birth/death certificate systems for Banyan trees can also materialize this way. A comprehensive all India Banyan catalogue must be made. Efforts in cataloguing6 by INTACH with partnership of others have been initiated but appears to be limited to big giants only. Every Banyan tree in India must be catalogued for effective protection and life prolonging.The success of Aadhar unique identification methodology for Indian citizens must be initiated for trees also.The pilot project for Banyan trees will be apt and well appropriate for the sake of conservation and protection of our precious green heritage.

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 Build up a feature in money spinning events like IPL tournaments and local/regional/state level similar tournaments whereby certain compulsory proceeds/monetary rights will be earmarked to sponsor owning/saving/nurturing the nominated Banyan trees to the respective teams. Some of these aspects are easily tabulated in a matrix form below:-

STRATEGY TO SAVE BANYANS-1 STRATEGY TO SAVE BANYANS-2

• Develop a sense of ownership and pride in • Construcon Moratorium in the radius of 2 saving the naonal symbols of India km from core trunk of Banyan trees • Saving Strategy will include “saving, protecng • enhancing life of current Banyan assets and Leverage the success story of Saving the growing them more in many places in the heart Tigers to movate people of civilized areas • Declare Banyan trees as “protected trees like • Rope in the support of the youth and women ASI does for “protected monuments” • Formulate by laws for compulsory planng of • Outsourcing protecon of trees to licensed Banyans in Housing sociees, malls, transport hubs bidders for 99 years inially with certain • Leverage the symbolism of longevity of trees subsidies in ads placed in Govt media channels

STRATEGY TO SAVE BANYANS-3 STRATEGY TO SAVE BANYANS-4

• Place sensors and CCTVs at strategic • Encourage corporates and hotels to not only locaons to get real me status of trees plant ornamental trees but Banyans also health,sabotage/vandalisaon/misuse,if any • Massive dose of plantaon of Banyans in • Uniquely idenfy Banyans through Aadhar Cantonments ,IT parks,public parks,religious issuance to nearest household/society with certain incenves places,river ghats,fort complexes,educaonal instuons ,court complexes and • Ensure no encroachment/no hawking cemetries/war memorials • Enforce protecon using fencing and • emerging technologies like AI,Remote Laws to curb vandalisaon,damage or monitoring,IOT uproong of branches and roots of Banyans

Figure 4 Implementation Methodology of Saving India’s Banyan Trees Strategy

5. CURRENT WORK UNDERTAKEN IN GREATER BENGALURU Teams/volunteers/locals from Bengaluru based Gigoo Omni Quality Enterprises has initiated an exercise/campaign/roadshow/programme in various parts of Greater Benagluru in the period from June 2020 onwards in India’s IT hub Bengaluru. The programmes have been conducted in 6 phases till date and has seen a modest success with good response from respondents and online on Facebook and LinkedIn platforms. The details of roadshows conducted are as follows:-

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SAVE THE BANYANS : CAMPAIGNS

Serial Phase Month and Geography Response No Number Year 1. One June 2020 R R Nagar/ Modest Ramohalli 2. Two July 2020 Kengeri/ Modest Devagiri 3. Three July 2020 Pyramid Modest Valley side 4. Four Aug 2020 Electronics Excellent City side 5. Five Aug 2020 Kudur- Excellent Hullikel side 6. Six Sep 2020 Central Excellent Bengaluru

Figure 5 Roadshow Connect programmes for Saving India’s Banyan Trees conducted in Greater Bengaluru from June to September 2020

Phase 1 In this Phase ,our team identified some beautiful Banyan trees in Ideal Homes Township of Raja Rajeshwari Nagar area of South west Bengaluru.A giant tree, about 4 km from famous Raja Rajeshwari Temple and adjacent to the wall of famous Global Academy of Technology is surviving in a cemetery.

Figure 6 The rapid urbanization is creating a huge issue for Banyan trees even in seemingly safe places as evidenced in a cemetery of posh Raja Rajeshwari Nagar in Southwestern Bengaluru where apartment complex is coming up just behind restricting Banyan growth

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Though cemetery has given it protection for decades, but it is regrettable that just adjacent to the site, a 4 storeyed apartment complex is being constructed. The same will curb and stop the natural growth of the giant. This could have easily been avoided had green minded citizens/authorities and neighbours come together. This is one glaring example of tough challenges to the Banyans in rapidly urbanizing contemporary India. In next segment of this Phase, our team also conducted a sensitization campaign for saving the Banyan trees in the famous Banyan hub of Dodda Alada mara at Ramohalli in Greater Bengaluru’s Southwest off Mysuru Road. The volunteers/partners/locals intensely built up the tempo of necessity of saving the Banyan trees. The enthusiasm of people from all walks of life was infectious and a good word of mouth resulted in rich dividends of publicity for the campaign. Certian images from the campaign are as shown below:-

Figure 7 These images are from our Dodda Alada Mara roadshow in Phase 2 of our Campaign

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Phase 2 Kengeri and Devagiri areas of Greater Bengaluru are home to many Banyan trees in several areas including on roadside and tucked away in bylanes inside. The Phase 2 took us to some interesting locations where the look of the Banyans is really a majestic sight. It is like viewing the green versions of Taj Mahals, Hampi, Pattadakal and Bellary like wonders. Good response of our programme was evident at the places we went. The participation of youth was tremendous.

Figure 8 Enthusiasm for Saving the Banyan trees was broad based and transcended the age barriers

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Phase 3 South Bengaluru’s Kanakpura Road is a new emerging destination of real estate giants. The growth here may be good story to humans, but for trees it may be the new graveyard. However, our team moved on this road towards Harohalli area and got a beautiful opportunity to discover some great Banyan trees close to famous spiritual centre Pyramid valley International. The volunteers/locals truly took ownership of our SAVE OUR BANYAN TREES programme and supported in the success of the mission by their coherent communication to the villagers.

Figure 9 The roadshow near famous Pyramid Valley International Spiritual Centre in Southern outskirts of Greater Bengaluru met with good response from locals

Phase 4 The biggest test and nervousness of our campaign to save our Banyans was at Electronics City, a corporate and business hotspot in Bengaluru. It is also a place with iconic buildings including of Infosys IT company. But, the thumping response in this busy hub was a pleasant surprise and a testament to the fact that the youth is clearly now more than ever interested to be participative and eager to lend their helping hands and time on life saving Environmental issues.

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Figure 10 The enthusiastic participants in our Electronic City campaign in famous business corridor of Greater Bengaluru was a surprise success

Phase 5 We must admit that this was a truly special Phase. This Phase was akin to a pilgrimage. Imagine going to Varanasi or Deoghar or Amarnath or Rameshwar. Something of that feeling was evident for us on this “Banyan Pilgrimage Circuit”. In this phase, we went to the Kudur- Hullikel corridor after heading westwards from Bengaluru’s busy Nelamangala area. This place has been made a green haven by the superb efforts of India’s Padma Shri winner Slaumarada Thimmakka. Almost 400 Banyan trees on this corridor is clearly India’s “green Vaishno Devi type pilgrimage trail”. A true success story of strengthening and empowering our Environment. The success of our campaign in this corridor was always assured. But, first hand experiences and pride of people was a moving emotional experience.

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Figure 11 Campaign in the famous Kudur-Hullikel area which is famous for Banyan mother centurion Thimakka

Phase 6 In the Phase 6 of our campaign, we had more surprise waiting for us. This was the superb participation of people in core Benagaluru areas including Vidhan Soudha, Shanthinagar, Banashankari and Shivajinagar areas. But, more response could have been possible to garner had the impact of Covid-19 Pandemic been less.

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Figure 12 The success of our awareness building in SAVE THE BANYAN trees showed excellent response in core areas of Bengaluru as evidenced here

6. OUTCOMES FROM THE CAMPAIGNS/ROADSHOWS Several outcomes and lessons resulted from the abovementioned campaigns. These are:-  Awareness building towards the saving of Banyan trees with its associated mini ecosystem was generated and also effective, especially among the youth segment.  This was possibly a first of its kind conducted in India targetted on only one particular tree saving mission. Environment saving is a war which can be fought by winning periodic many small battles. This campaign was like addressing the low hanging fruits. Main missions and challenges will arrive in future. Man-Banyan conflicts are bound to rise with rising populations and pressure on land in cities.  Lot of these types of awareness/sensitization campaigns will be required across India to communicate to people the necessity to maintain harmony with our green ecosystem. Our green trees are not nuisance as is the thinking in some densely populated geography but like our Oxygen therapy.  The Big Businesses have to be more forthcoming to help build up harmony with Nature. Real Estate behemoths have to play a huge role in this transformation. Their lip service for greenery has to change to a mission to generate a huge pool of trees for next 1000 years and beyond.  Banyan trees are very symbolic as far as Indian psyche is concerned. This is the right “pilot project” tree chosen to start an evangelist zeal for basic Environment Protection. Banyan trees should be as symbols of our pride as Indian tricolour.  Our campaign became a success with our mix of fun and serious business. Adequate breaks on our journeys made us engage with locals and also appreciate our great country’s breathtaking natural beauty especially during monsoons.  It is a felt need to have a structured National Green Plantation Programme with adequate review gates every 3/6/12 months akin to businesses reviwing their quarterly results.  Trans Species belongingness must be built up with the success of this type of mission. Banyan trees must be allotted Green Aadhar Numbers and linked to the affiliated persons residing in the locality.Similar such Man-other species bonding missions will also surly help to make our Green Ecosytem as a composite entities in future.  Banyan Affiliation and Adoption schemes must be initiated in all India’s neighbourhoods to save,protect and conserve the Banyan trees.Following infographic may be helpful:-

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•BANYAN AFFILIATION •BANYAN ADOPTION •BANYAN - A PRIDE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD •BANYAN AADHAR LINKED INCENTIVES

LEVERAGE THE SLOGAN “MAY YOU LIVE AS LONG AS SHOULD THE BANYAN TREE NEAR YOU”

Figure 13 7. STRATEGY TO GARNER PUBLICITY The humble tools and resources used were our boards, posters and printouts of the simple but powerful messages. But these were effective in our campaigns. Some of these are shown below:-

Figure 14

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8. EMERGING BANYAN GIANTS Though Dodda Alada Mara(Big Banyan tree) has stolen lot of limelight and publicity and Internet coverage, but our team while doing the survey were able to discover some beautiful Banyan giants in various locations. Some of these Banyan trees if saved and protected could one day or centuries later be the new Dodda Alada Maras. These will be described in a future paper. A one such great Banyan tree is in place Karibelle in Kengeri Area. The images of this Nature’s wonder are shown below:-

Figure 15 This Great Banyan tree is possibly the next largest in Bengaluru. It is a wonder of nature and is located in Karibelle area of Kengeri off Mysuru Road. It can easily be protected to make it the next Dodda Alada Mara(Big Banyan Tree) of Ramohalli

9. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION In the Post Covid-19 world, the Environmental matters are getting centre staged and mainstreamed more than ever before. The success to our SAVE THE BANYAN TREES campaign was truly reflective of the growing interest of the youth and other generations in partaking and participating in responsibilities for the Environment. The good publicity and “online word of mouth” success on Facebook and LinkedIn platforms was also a great encouraging factor for our efforts. In near and mid term, our teams will proceed for next phases of campaigns in other geographies also.This success of our template will be replicated with new candidates of tree savings e.g. Peepals, Deodhars,Chinars, Rain Trees and many more. We solicit funding support for this venture.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Gigoo Omni Quality Enterprises wish to thank and congratulate all our online, offline, field persons, volunteers, locals and numerous other stakeholders on the success of this undertaking. We request your continuous and encouraging participation for future similar campaigns.

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REFERENCES [1] Ficus benghalensis Linn- The Sacred Indian Medicinal Tree with potent Pharmacological Remedies, Gopakumar S.T. and P.K. Praseertha, International Journal of Pharmacy Review, May-June 2015,Article No. 37,Pages 223-227 [2] Production of flavonol Quercetin from cultured plant cells of Banyan (Ficus benghalensis L.), H.Bandekar and S.S. Lele,Mumbai,International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and technology, Vol 3,issue 5,May 2014 [3] A study of the distribution pattern of lead in the leaves of banyan trees (Ficus benghalensis) from different traffic density regions of Calcutta. Datta SC, Ghosh JJ. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 1985; 9:101-106. [4] Biomonitoring seasonal variation of urban air polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using Ficus benghalensis leaves. Prajapati SK, Tripathi B., Environmental Pollution, 2008; 151:543- 548. [5] Phytopharmacology of Ficus benghalensis-A Review, Prathap Kumar Kothapalli et al ,Dept. of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary College, Bangalore-560024, , India, Asian journal of Pharmaceutical Research, Vol 4,Issue 4,2014,ISSN ONLINE 2231:5691 [6] Cataloguing India’s Living Tree Heritage-A Foundation Resource for Conservation of a Unique national treasure , YD Bar-Ness, www.treeoctopus.net [7] World’s tenth largest banyan tree at Narora in Upper Ganga Ramsar site, Uttar Pradesh, India, Current Science, Vol. 111, No. 5, 10 September 2016 [8] Arboreal Wonder, Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed, Frontline Magazine,15 June 2012 [9] www.facebook.com/gigooomniquality on Facebook posts of Gigoo Omni Quality Enterprises on the subject SAVE THE BANYAN TREES on various dates [10] www.linkedin.com on LinkedIn posts on the subject SAVE THE BANYAN TREES on various dates

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