50-year-old Peepal tree finds new home

To be relocated from Raiwind Road within few days

LAHORE:

A tree lover has adopted a 50-year-old Peepal tree located on Raiwind Road. Ghulam Rasool, from Pakpattan, who holds the record for planting the most trees individually, has adopted the ancient tree in Araiana village.

The Peepal tree, aged over 50 years, stands in the middle of a link road, causing difficulties for large vehicles, especially trailers and threshers, to pass through.

Preparations are underway to relocate the adopted tree to a new location. According to Rasool, the tree's branches have been pruned, and chemical-treated cloth has been applied to the trunk to protect it from fungus. The tree will be relocated to a new site within a few days, courtesy of a local landowner who has offered land.

Rasool explained that instead of uprooting the tree, authorities suggested widening the road, but the landowner feared that future generations might cut down the tree.

To preserve the tree, where he played as a child, the landowner offered alternative land.

Rasool is optimistic that the relocated tree will thrive for another 50-100 years, shading generations to come. Modern machinery will be used for the relocation, a technique successfully employed in Lahore to transfer dozens of large trees. Previously, trees obstructing construction projects were typically cut down.