Neem Trees Dying Across City, Experts Blame Fungal Attack | Kolkata News

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Kolkata: Neem trees, which are a source of traditional pesticides, have become victims of a pestilential disease across the city. Experts blame the dieback disease, caused by a fungal infection, for the recent spate of neem tree deaths. Symptoms include wilting, yellowing and browning of leaves leading to defoliation, dark and sunken areas (cankers) on stems and branches, loose bark and browning of wood on the dying branches that may ultimately lead to the death of trees. They may occur in one or more areas of the plant, say botanists. They also blame the recent and, by some accounts, unprecedented dry spell in the city — stretching across March and April — as one of the factors that helped the fungal infection.“This fungal attack is quite ominous. I feel this long spell of torrid summer after 122 years in the city’s meteorological history has left many species weak and vulnerable to infections. The continual lowering of the water table has only aggravated the situation,” Bengal Biodiversity Board chairman HS Debnath told TOI. “This needs scientific scrutiny and study so that we can devise a long-term protection mechanism against these diseases,” one of them said.

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