Mango flowers bedeck Chandigarh roads

CHANDIGARH - Dense panicles of yellow-reddish flowers adorn scores of mango trees on both sides of the road. They form a canopy, shading you from the scorching sun. The profuse flowering on mango trees is a rare sight even in a city known for its greenery, making some wonder if it has something to do with climate change.

But there is hardly anyone who doesn\’t stop to admire its beauty, particularly on the stretch along National Highway-21 that connects Chandigarh with Zirakpur town of Punjab and on the road connecting the industrial area here with the grain market in Sector 26.

Imtiaz Ahmed, 71, one of the caretakers of a mango orchard here, said: \”I have been working here for the last 35 years and I have observed this (heavy flowering) after at least 17-18 years. It could be due to the early advent of summer and the scorching heat in the month of March.\”

Chandigarh, one of the most well-planned cities of India, was designed in the 1950s. But before the city came up, the land was covered with mango and peepal groves.

While some consider the heavy flowering to be a natural phenomenon — the mango tree bears fruit every alternate year — some are sure this is an unusual phenomenon.

R.K. Kohli, chairperson of the botany department of Panjab University here, told IANS: \”Last year, we had less mango fruits in Chandigarh but this year we have seen some whopping flowering. Normally, we get good flowering after a gap of one year in fruit-bearing trees like litchis and mangoes.

\”But at the same time we cannot ignore the rise in mercury in the city. Though we have no scientific tool available to reinforce the relation between temperature and flowering it is certainly a debatable issue as they are happening simultaneously.\”

Year 2010 saw the second warmest March since 1954 in Chandigarh.

According to Surinder Paul, director of the meteorological centre here, this is a part of the natural cycle but \”an increase in mercury can affect the surroundings, especially plants and trees, in many ways.

\”We are observing a good flowering of mango trees this year. I cannot explain the scientific reason behind this, but the flowering of trees always has a strong correlation with temperature.\”

But many are choosing to stay out of the debate and enjoy the beauty of the blossoms instead.

Rohit Ruhella, an environmentalist based in Chandigarh, told IANS: \”Seeing excessive flowering is quite a delight for us. This year, the flowers seem to be outnumbering leaves in some cases. We had observed a similar flowering around seven-eight years back.

\”The fruit always requires warm and humid conditions to come out properly and this year\’s temperature in March provided the most favourable conditions. In fact, we are also expecting the fruits to ripen early this year,\” Ruhella said.

(Alkesh Sharma can be contacted at