An Indian Rubber tree (Ficus elastica) having a girth of 17 metre at Kalek village in Pangin forest range of Upper Siang district is the largest tree of Arunachal Pradesh.
The second largest one is a banyan tree with a girth of 15.89 metre at Kankar Nallah, Nirjuli, under the Banderdewa forest division in Papum Pare district, a Raj Bhavan communique said here today.
Thirty-seven proposals were received from all over the state, which were put to scrutiny through a technical committee. Trees were short-listed based on the reported girth of the trunk.
Short-listed trees were physically verified by forest officials and the species were confirmed by scientists, the communique said.
The health of the trees and the species were also considered for relative positioning of the trees.
The exercise to find out the largest tree of the state was a brain child of Governor J J Singh to add other tourist spots in the state.
Singh gave away cash awards to the winners – Takom Tamuk of Kalek village and Rai Yayer of Kankar Nallah at a function organised at the Raj Bhawan, the communique said.
Source: business-standard.com
