Jadav Payeng, known as the Forest
Man of India spent 30 years of his life planting trees to save his island,
creating a forest and restoring wildlife in it. The forest, called Molai forest
after him, is located near Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, India and encompasses
an area of about 1,360 acres / 550 hectares.
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| Padma Shri Jadav Payeng |
About Jadav Payeng
In 1979, Payeng, then 16,
encountered a large number of snakes that had died due to excessive heat after
floods washed them onto the tree-less sandbar. That is when he planted around
20 bamboo seedlings on the sandbar.
He started working on the forest in 1979
when the social forestry division of Golaghat district launched a scheme of
tree plantation on 200 hectares at Aruna Chapori situated at a distance of 5 km
from Kokilamukh in Jorhat district. Molai was one of the laborers who worked
in that project which was completed after five years.
He chose to stay back
after the completion of the project even after other workers left. He not only
looked after the plants but continued to plant more trees on his own, in an
effort to transform the area into a forest.
The forest, known in Assamese as
'Mulai Kathoni' or Mulai forest, houses around four tigers, three rhinoceros,
over a hundred deer and rabbits besides apes and innumerable varieties of
birds, including a large number of vultures.
It has several thousand trees
among which are valcol, arjun, ejar, goldmohur, koroi, moj and himolu. There
are bamboo trees too covering an area of over 300 hectares.
A herd of around
100 elephants regularly visit the forest every year and generally stay for
around six months. They also gave birth to 10 calves in the forest in recent
times.
Mulai’s efforts caught attention of the forest department only during
2008 when a team of forest officials went to the area in search of a herd of
115 elephants that sneaked into the forest after damaging the property of villagers
at Aruna chapori, around 1.5 km from the forest.
“The officials were surprised
to see such a large and dense forest and since then the department is showing
interest on conservation with a regular visit to the site,” Mulai said.
Mulai, an
avid nature lover, has constructed a small house in the vicinity of the reserve
and stays with his family which comprises wife, two sons and a daughter. He
earns his living by selling milk of cows and buffaloes he has kept. Mulai has
one regret, though.
The state government has so far not provided any financial
assistance to him to carry out his 'mission' except for the Forest Department
which from time to time supplies him saplings for plantation.
Jadav Payeng Awards
In 2015, he was honored with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. He was born in the indigenous Mising tribe of Assam. He was honored with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. He received an honorary doctorate degree from Assam Agricultural University and Kaziranga University for his contributions.
Assam Government Ignorance
Maharashtra
Class X Environmental Science textbook mentions Payeng in the context of the
environment. The mentioned content comprises of his life experiences and
contribution under the heading 'The big story of a small man.' This is a good initiative taken by the Maharashtra government to teach the young generation about the environment, its conservation and sustainability of the environment by a real
story.
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| Class X Environmental Science textbook |
It is also noticed that there is
a misinterpretation in the textbook description of ‘Forest Man of India’ Jadav Payeng,
has decided to write to the Maharashtra government seeking an immediate
correction of the information provided in the texts. It is seen that the textbook has mentioned Jadav Payeng as a member of a nomadic tribe which is
certainly wrong information about him.
But that error can be correct at the
same time Assam government who totally ignore this initiative to teach young
generation of Assam and did not add any chapter about his environmental works
and his environmental ethics. Apart from this he also said in his interviews
that the state government has so far not provided any financial assistance to
him to carry out his 'mission' except for the Forest Department which from time
to time supplies him saplings for plantation.
Photo Courtesy
By President's Secretariat (GODL-India), GODL-India, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72015397