PANJIM, March 2 -- Team Herald

Tension rent the air at Vodakade, Porvorim, as the authorities "mercilessly" chopped the 200-year-old sacred banyan tree on Sunday to go ahead with six lane elevated corridor work, with the residents forcing the government to take a back seat and stall the removal and relocation of the Lord Khapreshwar's idol.

As per the court order when the officials of Public Works Department (PWD) officials and police arrived to commence the translocation of the tree, activists and local residents gathered at the site, as they feared the exercise could damage the Khapreshwar Temple adjacent to the tree.

Social activist Swapnesh Sherlekar confronted the PWD officials and police, warning them of grave consequences if the...