Chennai

The present day natives do not know its myriad uses, according to pastor Godson Samuel, attached to the Mumbai Methodist Church who was recently in Rameswaram, seeking details of its habitat to write a book ultimately.

Talking to DTNext , he said he and a group of friends had pooled funds for his trip and “starting from Mumbai on May 16, I have traversed through Hyderabad, Eluru, Ongole, Chennai, Puducherry, Cuddalore and after covering Rameswaram,  Toothukudi, Vembar, Kavalkinaru and Kanniyakumari will reach Nagercoil on July 2. I hope to collect enough material on the tree to write a book and create awareness among people so that it does not become extinct.”

Sadly enough, even as he was measuring some trees at Mandapam, nearly four trees were uprooted at Thangachimadam to make way for TANGEDCO (Tamilnadu Generation and Distribution Corporation) lines. The chopped parts were transported by tractors for use as firewood in brick kilns.

 Pleading that the tree be given importance similar to that for national symbols, he said: “People should understand the tree’s many uses as it offered health and environmental benefits. While a book “Kala Vilasam” penned by Kudanthai Arunachalam, ten centuries ago spoke of 801 benefits provided by the tree, another by K Sambandam of the TN Palm Gur Federation in 1981 listed only 300 uses while now people are unable to list more than 30 uses, as people over years have lost touch with the tree’s benefits.”

For the state’s revenue officials, the palm tree is a sign showing whether an area is flood or drought affected (if a palm tree is uprooted by water, there is flood and if it has dried up, there is drought).   

“It is sad that a tree which takes 20 years to grow is finally sold as firewood for Rs 200.” The short shrift given to the tree “has resulted in an Andhra Pradesh community which relied on the tree for its livelihood being reduced by half to 45 lakhs as many have sought other avenues of employment. However, our aim is to create awareness among locals so that palm trees are planted on tank bunds and river banks to prevent soil erosion,” Godson Samuel said.

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