the goan I network
MAPUSA
Bodko-vodh”, the over 200-year-old iconic banyan tree in Calangute came crashing down on Friday evening taking with it part of history of the coastal village.
The huge tree at the junction at Porba-vaddo just after Hotel Palmarinha in Calangute was a landmark and the area was identified with the centuries-old banyan tree.
The tree got uprooted at around 3.40 pm due to incessant rains and windy condition prevailing in the area.
Mapusa traffic moving towards Calangute had to be diverted through the village of Arpora-Nagao as the road was blocked by the fallen tree.
The operation to clear the tree went on for more than four hours as fire personnel of the Pilerne Fire Station were still on the site at around 8 pm clearing the tree. “We asked for reinforcement from the head office by way of cutters. Our staff is on the job to clear the road of obstruction,” said Andrew Lobo, Pilerne Fire Station Incharge.
Several locals rushed to the site to take a glimpse of the oldest tree in the village which also had religious significance for the majority community.
“It was a place of worship and we had a sentimental value for the tree. Half the Calangute used to go there. It’s a sad day for the village of Calangute,” said Sudhesh Mayenkar, who recently resigned as deputy sarpanch of the village.
The banyan tree was famously known as “bodko-vodh” but none of the locals The Goan spoke to could inform how the name had derived.
In the meanwhile the Mapusa Fire Station received at least two calls of tree falling from various place in Bardez. A retaining collapsed at Gaunsa-vaddo, Mapusa late in the evening.
