In the past, the banyan tree on Old Mahabalipuram Road in Semmancherry supported diverse colonies of birds. As banyan belongs to the fig family, its fruits especially draw Koels, which feed on berries and figs. However, when OMR turned into the celebrated IT Corridor and Semmancherry became heavily populated, crows became the dominant group on this tree. This is a tolerable nuisance though, especially when residents factor in the memories that hang evergreen from the branches of this banyan. “A huge portion of the tree was hewed down to widen this section of the road as part of the IT Corridor project.”“The Semmancherry bus stop is named after this banyan tree.

Source: The Hindu August 18, 2017 11:59 UTC