Bengaluru : India : Ms Almitra Patel, 73 has paid Rs.28,000/= to save an ancient banyan tree and two parially chopped trees. It all started in the year 2007 when the local government decided to develop Bagalur Road as the cargo route to Bangalore International Airport(BIA) at Devenahalli. Almitra, who has a farm off the road for the last three decades was planting and nurturing saplings in the area. When the Public Works Department announced the road widening project , it was decided to chop off trees for this purpose. When the contractor of the road work started marking the trees to felled. Almitra noticed that her favourite banyan tree and the other two banyan stumpswere also marked, she felt sad and tracked down the contractor and negotiated with him to spare those banyan trees. Aftermuch effeort with the help of locals, she has offered Rs.18,000 for the big one( 7 metres circumference ) and Rs.9,000 for the other two small ones , so that the trees can be saved from felling. Finally the contractor agreed and the old giant and other two trees were saved. She sarcastically says that she has to pay the ransom to save those trees.
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