GAYA: A retired professor of plant sciences at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, NSK Harsh on Tuesday examined the Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment and said the tree's general health was in good condition and there was no cause for worry.The plant scientists, who, before his retirement in 2016, monitored the health of the tree twice a year for about a decade, rushed to Bodh Gaya at the request of the temple shrine management committee. Services of Harsh were requisitioned following an alarm caused by unseasonal drying up of the leaves.According to sources, Harsh got the micronutrients and biostimulants administered to prevent drying up of more leaves. When contacted, the ex-FRI scientist told TOI that only some and not all leaves have dried up and after Tuesday's intervention, the drying up process would stop.Asked about the cause of unseasonal drying up of the leaves, Harsh said that toxicity and exposure to Sun at a relatively high temperature may have caused the leaves to dry. "The atmospheric temperature was higher than normal for this part of the year. The administration of micronutrients and biostimulants would not revive the leaves that got dried, but it will stop the process of drying up. Incidentally, younger leaves have dried," said the former FRI professor.Besides the aging problem, the tree, on account of its tilted growth (the tree cannot expand on the eastern side as the shrine stands to the east of the roots), soil compaction, heavy footfalls and overenthusiastic devotees causing unintended injury, suffers from several disadvantages. Moreover, the photosynthesis process too is hampered on account of inadequate darkness around the tree.

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