Ok Google, Take Me to a Banyan. Hyderabad’s Green Activists Geotag 914 Trees in Effort to Protect Them

The next time you are in Hyderabad, ask Google Maps to guide you to one of the 914 banyan trees lining both sides of the Hyderabad-Manneguda highway. Speaking to News18, Sadhana Ramchander, a member of a group, ‘Nature Lovers of Hyderabad’, said: “The geotagging was done by 20 volunteers who put over 200 hours marking the GPS location of each tree. Besides this, attributes such as tree girth and presence of prop roots were also noted.” https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1rYZY4oeTh12IRdAebxjSUsdKtWwCcEA&ll=17.314523507653995%2C78.14358915&z=12 “Nearly one-tenth of the trees had burn marks, and almost all were surrounded by scorched earth. Cars can be asked to go slow instead of widening the road.” Ramachander added: “We have been trying to meet the minister for municipal administration and urban development, K Taraka Rama Rao, for the past two years but there has been no response so far.” Banyan tree an ecosystem Talking to News18, Vaibhav Raje, an arborist, said: “Human beings are hardwired to love trees.