'Sick' tree cost the eagles home, family

For safety

It was on a sultry Tuesday morning when the otherwise busy Manandavadi road was witness to something other than the zooming past of vehicles and cacophony of blaring horns.

The sound, which is sure to have made many hearts ache at least for a moment, was that of a tree. The peepal tree, which stood silent testimony to the time that had passed by, came crashing down.

The aged tree, which stood near Rama Mandira close to NIE College, had seen the circle of life which had transformed the quiet surroundings of Manandavadi road where Mysore grew its vegetables, sugarcane, paddy  et al; and then the small hutments making way for big homes, and the glory of most famous National Institute of Engineering grooming lakhs of engineers who went to adorn most plum posts, and heighten the fame of erstwhile Mysore, had to be cut, owing to the weak body it was left with. Termites had eaten away most of the trunk portion of the tree, which was posing a threat to passersby, with its fragility.

Contractors executed the task they were entrusted with, of running a hacksaw blade across its trunk and veins after ensuring that the termites, had indeed, caused irreparable damage to its structure.

With the tree, ended the lives of unborn baby eagles, the eggs of which were sitting smugly on the robust nest their parents had built for them with sticks, using ash as the bonding agent. The birds, which initially ignored the human presence, went berserk after their nest was destroyed.

Shattered nests that cost their babies, which could have been due in a few days, left the big birds shocked at the sight, and pained for a long time to come. The forest department had given permission for the tree to be cut, owing to the impending danger for humans.

Justified. But, who will make good for the pain that the birds suffered? Passersby vouched for the fact that long after the tree was brought down, the eagles continued to make sounds and fly around the area for hours.