By IANS
Kolkata : A peepal tree oozing water for the past five days has created a stir in Behala, on the southern fringes of Kolkata, with hundreds flocking to witness the “miracle”.
The phenomenon occurred after the Behala Flying Club, adjacent to the peepal tree in Gopalpur, started chopping off the trunks near the landing strip to ensure better visibility for planes.
Local residents asked authorities not to cut a few trees, including the century-old peepal tree, adjacent to a Shiva Linga, a symbol of Hindu Lord Shiva. But some branches of the tree were cut the day after rakhi and water suddenly started oozing out of it.
The news spread like wildfire and soon people started queuing up to drink water from the tree, which they claimed had healing properties. Some residents claimed that the tree was blessed with divine powers as they had been worshipping it for decades.
The incident has sparked off a war of words between believers and rationalists who have described it as a natural phenomenon.
“There is no miracle attached to it. It is a clear case of perspiration. As the tree is shorn of leaves, it has caused the branches to perspire. Trees draw water through its roots and when big trees like peepal and banyan are cut, water sometimes oozes out,” Satyajit Chakraborty, general secretary of Paschimbanga Vigyan Mancha, a rationalist association, told IANS Monday.
“We have called a meeting of botanists and scientists to explain the phenomenon to the people,” he said.