Tamil Nadu: Bats 'miss their home' as storm uproots ancient banyan tree in Villupuram village

VILLUPURAM: Owing to heavy rains in Villupuram on Sunday, Kazhuperumpakkam village lost its oldest and tallest inhabitant-- a two-century-old banyan tree. It has left hundreds of bats who lived on its branches, without a home as the tree was uprooted on Monday.  

Having stood for a long, the banyan tree has long been a symbol of pleasant memories for the villagers. As it has also been home to the village's winged creatures, playing musical instruments and bursting crackers during festivals were banned for over a century. The bats, one foot tall, would attract researchers, journalists and holidaying families.

Recalling the heavy showers, a 17-year-old resident, V Jayaraman said, "Hearing the noise, we came out and found the tree blocking the main road after having crash-landed, snapping the power line." 

"A century ago, these bats had stayed in a tamarind tree near the houses of Brahmin families, who developed this village by employing labourers for farm work, '' added Jayaraman. In the middle of the twentieth century, people belonging to the Kuravar community moved to the village and tried to catch the bats by applying chemicals to the tamarind tree. The bats then shifted to a banyan tree, claimed residents.

Another resident, A Ramalingam said, "These bats attracted media coverage and ecology students, for research purposes. Even people from nearby villages used to bring their children here." Even during the Nipah virus spread, villagers were not afraid of bats and later the health department confirmed no spread of the virus in the village.

Locals further said these bats used to be in the thousands, but now their numbers have come down. They would travel at night and return before the sun rose and no one in the village would know where they went, they added.

A senior forest department official, formerly in Tindivanam said usually, bats reside in green trees. "If the tree dies or is uprooted, they automatically move to another tree, which they had frequented earlier, " he said, adding that the shift won't affect the bats.

However, locals are yet to process their grief as the tree had brought identity to their village for decades. They hope the aerial roots of the uprooted tree will steadily grow in the coming decades and become a shelter for the bats again.