Rain trees in Ctg dying of rare fungus
Staff Correspondent, Ctg
The century-old rain trees at the city's Central Railway Building (CRB), Polo Ground and the Tiger Pass area might have been attacked by a rare and deadly fungal disease named dieback, said experts. Around 50 rain trees (Albizia saman) have been infected by the disease and 38 of them already died in the last two weeks. A pathogen called Botryodiplodia theobromae might have caused the trees to be infected with the dieback epidemic that could wipe out vegetation in the entire area, botany experts suggested. Dieback means dying plants. The fungus attacks the roots of the plants and blocks water intake through the roots. The plants slowly die of thirst. "This disease is not known to us, but from the symptoms, it could be dieback. And the reasons behind the disease are also unknown to us as of now," said Prof M Amin Uddin Mridha of the Botany Department of Chittagong University while talking to The Daily Star yesterday. Prof Mridha, who collected bark samples of the rain trees to examine the cause of the disease, said that he and his department just started their investigation and would be able to determine the actual reason in the next two weeks. "The cause may be fungal pathogens or some other reasons related to the soil and environment," said the plant pathologist, who is also the vice chairman of Biodiversity Research Group of Bangladesh. Referring to the symptoms of the disease, Prof Mridha said some plants here are already dead and the rest are also dying. At the initial stage, leaves will turn yellow and eventually all the leaves will fall off the trees. He suggested immediate removal of the infected plants before they contaminate the healthy ones. Bangladesh Railway (BR) authorities (Eastern Zone) have decided to auction off the affected trees as timber after uprooting them. They also planned to replace the rain trees by planting other valuable trees such as teak, mahogany, etc.
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