THE FIRST ever tree census conducted by the horticulture wing of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research’s (PGIMER) has revealed that a 200-year-old Bohr Banyan tree exists on the campus.
The census has also revealed that the campus is home to 4,698 trees of around 80 species, including medicinal trees.
“The census is over and we have done numbering of the trees as well,” said Tejinder Singh, who heads the horticulture wing of the Institute. “We have found a tree that seems to be more than 200 years old and is growing near the site of the 250-bedded hospital on the campus.”
The survey was started in October last year and was aimed to get the exact number of trees, planted in PGI, said officials. “There was no record about the number of trees on the campus. Now we have information available about the trees at the institute,” said an official.
Providing details of the major species that have been found at the institute, Singh said. “The major ten species are flowering trees (mango, mulberry), timber trees (Shisham, Tun), flowering trees (Gulmohar, Amaltas, Koelreuteria), Medicinal trees (Arjun, Khair, Amla), evergreen shady trees (Alstonia, Chukrasia, Ashoka),” he said.
Explaining the importance of the trees census, an official from the horticulture wing said that it would now help the future tree plantation at the campus. “It will help us in the future like how can we go ahead with the construction as well,” he said, adding that the census had been marked in the institute’s Master Plan.
PGI officials said the Institute had more than 40 per cent of green cover inside the campus.
