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Yadav_Molai_Payeng.pdf

RESEARCH·OCTOBER2015

DOI:10.13140/RG.2.1.3633.7366

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PrashantaBordoloi

KazirangaUniversity

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Greening the Brahmaputra - mission of Forest Man of India

Padmashri Dr Jadav Payeng -

Forest Man of India by

Er Prashanta Kumar Bordoloi

Alumnus of Water Resources Engineering

Rutgers University, New Jersey

Ex-Director, NERIWALM, Govt. of India

bordoloi.prashanta@gmail.com +919678000745

- Introduction : It is the saga of an obsessed dreamer, Jadav Payeng, whose heart went

observing corpses of reptiles lying lifeless all over the treeless dry hot sands of the

Brahmaputra sand bar - locally called chapori, that took refuge for safe heaven to escape the

fury of the surging enormous river. Ecological imbalance - that strike the young man as the

cause of the death of those innocent lives. Will the human civilization meet similar ends with

indiscriminate destruction of green cover? The alerted young man of 17 start collecting

saplings from nearby villages, planted on the sandbar desert, and created a forest that

surpass the size of the Central Park, New York, till date. Yes Jadav nee Mulai Payeng creates

the world famous Molai Kathoni (Molai woods) as locally referred which draws visitor

worldwide. Mulai is now a living legend, a status he does not enjoy, as it cost him valuable

planting time responding to call for ovation. A school dropout, Jadav is now decorated with

Indian civilian honour Padmshri and conferred upon Ph D by the premier university of the

north east India, Gauhaty University. Jadav creates a wood lovely, dark and deep, but he feels

he has many promises he made to the nature to keep, and thus he has miles to go before his

sleep.

My first encounter with Jadav Payeng : "Some people are born great, some are thrust

upon and some are great by their deeds". Till the other day, he was decorated with the highest

civilian honour by the Indian Government, Jadav was hitherto unknown in Assam; neither I

knew this gentleman in whom already French government discovered promise and sought his

help in greening drive of Paris. Jadav laid the foundation of greening drive of Paris. My first

encounter with Jadav was romantic. On that twilight hour of Autumn in 2011, as I dashed to

the Jhanjimukh area receiving a news that herd of elephant some odd 150 in numbers,

creating havoc in a small forest of Jhao bon (a pine tree like riverrine shrub over a sand bar of

about 10 hectares in size created by the inhabitant at my advise) only to witness some

hillocks running towards the Brahmaputra river, with the villagers creating high decibel noises

beating whatever metal they could lay their hands on, some with torches made of paddy straw

and the forest guard occasionally shot blank fire aiming to the sky.

This game of chasing the hillock came to an end after about two hours much to the

rescue of the villagers at Jhanjimukh, the confluence of south bank tributary Jhanji of the

Brahmaputra. Those hapless people were just getting a reprieve from the fury of the

Brahmaputra Erosion, thanks to the effort of the state Water Resources Engineering

Department. "Sir, these are resident of Molai Kathoni of Kokilamukh. They are just roaming

out on an outing. There are altogether 150 elephants, ran to the safe haven of Molai Kathoni

as their habitat in Kaziranga was reeling under floodwaters of the Brahmaputra." Strange, how

big should be the forest to house such a large herd of elephant! I wondered. The forest guard

quoted the size of the area - a sandbar in the wilderness of the Brahmaputra turn oasis with

myriad trees planted by a young man of 17 over a period spanning over three and a half

decades; single handed, without any aid or assistance from anyone bigger than Central Park,

New York - 2500 ha. Is it myth! "not at all" Latu kakaideu, our next door neighbour who

migrated close to the city centre of Jorhat from our village confirmed what the Forest guard

said. Latu kakaideu, nee Roman Bordoloi, an upright businessman Jorhat had been

supportive to this green finger man - a plains tribe of Mishing community, hailing from the river

island Kokilamukh in his myriad activities. Latu kakaideu enfolds before me an unbelievable

story of a single man army embarked upon greening the river Brahmaputra - who believes to

please the river God Brahmaputra by restoring its ecology, that people destroyed

indiscriminately over the years. "In my personal capacity as well as a office bearer of Lions

Club, Jorhat am extending whatever little financial support we can afford to see the man going

on his mission for over a decade. But for almost 30 years, off everyone’s radar, without

support or subsidies, without fear or favour or foreign assistance, Payeng, almost obsessively,

continued to expand the forest and the fruit of his labour is now being celebrated around the

world."

"Kakideu, do you believe the river God will be pleased by his efforts?" I just tried to gauge the

faith of the patron of that single man army. "I don't know, but the river is not eroding that

sandbar he greened, though the barren Mou Chapori closed by is a history now; rather it is

enlarging with fresh siltation year after year, the forest he created is bigger than the size of

Central Park, New York.

Greening of river sand bar and Bio-Engineering : " You did mathematical modelling of

alluvial river in Rutgers, do you have any explanation to his belief?" Kakaideu shot me back -

yes I have aplenty. But I must visit that oasis and talk to that creator of earth heaven. The rest

is story to myself, I got a big big laboratory what my Mentor at Rutgers that suave Dr Deva

Bora, hailing from back of beyond Kujidah of Hatichong introduced me, and to Yadav Payeng

nee Molai - subsequently took me for his eldest brother. Our tryst with nature began with

renewed vigour I find bio-engineering solution for containing river erosion with consolidation of

the confidence. The Brahmaputra which had eaten away 0.47million ha of Assam fertile land

since 1964 (year of formation of the Task Force for Controlling Erosion, by Chaliha

Government) .

Erosion has greater ramification compared to flood in flood prone Assam. Jorhat Division of

state Water Resources Engineering Department was tasked in 2009 for combating erosion of

Jhanjimukh which took a heavy toll on

people with a splinter stream

separating two villages, one of the

villages become river island. But the

fund made available was meagre.

Contrary to public slamming of the

Department ineffective, the dynamic

dedicated Executive Engineer Sr

Uma Barua with his youthful SDO, Dr.

Rajib Goswami, PhD, surveyed the

area and decided to erect fencings,

hardly 2.0m tall, made of ordinary RCC fencing post, formed into a series of tripod. to retard

the flow. Sri Barua Sir taught us for a year in his brief stint as faculty member of our alma

mater Jorhat Engineering College. I

provided Sir with input of high

resolution latest satellite imagery of

the area. We were not pretty sure

how much siltation shall take place.

To be more safe, based on the

compass survey map they prepared it

was decided for nine fencings at

strategic location. I reasoned, "

Contrary to the popular belief that the

undercurrent of the Brahmaputra is very high, theoretically velocity diminishes parabolically as

the depth increases , and at bed it is virtually zero; at about ten percent depth from water

surface, velocity reached the maximum. Once the forces acting on particles are strong enough

to initiate motion, particles slide, roll, and saltate down the river bed at a steady rate. Particles

entrained at the bed-load layer and get ttransported by convection, diffusion, and turbulence.

What we see in colloidal form,

is an insignificant part of the

sediment.

At downstream of a sandbar,

the streamlines of flow crosses

giving rise to Magnus effect,

which we see forming

whirlpool, so is the

generalisation. But with the

increase of depth shear force

or erosive force of the stream

Suspension occurs here

increases linearly. Thus the bottom portion get eroded and the sandy bank give indication of

which can be read from cracking of the bank. There are several types of bank failure noticed on

the Brahmaputra bank, sudden receding of flood level is also counterproductive as the seepage

force may accelerate bank caving. Whatever it may be, if siltation is initiated on eroded reach,

the vulnerability of bank failure reduces as depth of the stream reduces. Erosion and deposition

are hall mark of an alluvial stream, and both takes place simultaneously but on opposite side.

Size of sand bar is enlarged on one bank, the other side faces erosion. Thus imbalance in

sediment supply and sediment transport capacity of the stream results erosion or deposition. If

the transport capacity exceeds the silt load, the flow will erode either the bed or bank or both,

depending upon easiness. Nature follow the

path of least resistance. Generally thus,

sandy banks are easy targets - result

rampant erosion and public agony. Yes, this

sediment transport mechanism can be

modelled for prediction, there are models

but – most models are empirical. Derived

usually make simplifying assumptions about

flow and sediment entrainment. This erosion

world is thus not entirely predictive,

academic exercises help us converge, ITK

helps in improving perfection through

traditional rich experience hold good for the

specific situation. What has been practiced

by the authority through ages-embankment

to contain flood within limit, massive gravity

spars earthen, with boulder apron to thwart

the flow. It is reactive approach. Newton's

third law of force is- for Every action there is

equal and opposite reaction (under

equilibrium). Massive spar takes on the fury

of the charging surge of flood, deflects it

towards the middle only to revert to the bank-ward. Thus we transfer our problem on others. It

also ages. Spars initiate siltation, it can't however taken for a sign of stability. The screen

proposed shall retard the near the bed, resulting in siltation of eroded reach.

Out of nine screen proposed, owing to early onset of flood, only two could be erected

by the WRE department. To our utter

astonishment it was seen that with two mere

screens 75 wide channel to a length of 5km

was screened in one summer. Green of the

sand bar is beyond WRE Department,

mandate. I impressed upon the villagers to

consolidate the sandbars with vegetation,

which some followed in letter and spirit,

Jhanjimukh

erosion in pre-

2009

Porcupine launched in lean season

Porcupine submerged flood

result is Molai forest inmates, a herd of 150 elephant visited that small wood. Today,

Jhanjimukh people sleeps in peace with the main course of the Brahmaputra adrift 1.5km

towards the middle.

Siltation form sand bar, but a bare sand bar can withstand a velocity 0.6m per second.

The Brahmaputra has records of reaching a velocity in flood as high as 3.5m per second and

beyond. Thus we see sand bars vanish altogether. There is clamor for rejuvenation of the river

with concrete wall on both

banks. Boulder withstand

an erosive velocity of 2.8

m per second, Bermuda

grass can withstand upto

2.5 m per second. The

first Survey of India map

of Assam, 1914-15, listed

the type of vegetation

also, where one can see

the hydrophytes list those

were present by river side like Reeds, Ikra, Nal, Khagori, Birina, cane sprang up on water

front. As one climbing

upward the river side to the

bank, with gaining elevation

spotted Bagari, jhao and

similar shrubs, culmination

on Bamboo, Simul tree, Belo,

velkor, pani Gamari, and

myriad other plants -

following the natural

succession of the vegetation.

In flood, as the water level

rises, submerge the hydrophytes; consequently, at their physical resistance, river velocity near

the banks reduces and fresh siltation results.

In the words of Kalang Poet Devakanta, "since the early days of civilization, man has been

struggling with the nature but destiny has been reign supreme." Jadav once asked me - can

Siltation post monsoon same year

Greenery recurs, can be accelerated with human

intervention, Make it a people's movement

Jhanjimukh 2009

Jhanjimukh 2012

nature be tamed? I replied - you did it,

Jhanjimukh people proved it - nature too can

be tamed provided we follow the laws of

nature like you people.

Observe the Brahmaputra at Pandu, how

wide it is - only one mile, but it had not flood

Fancybazar. At Nimati the Brahmaputra is

11km, out of which width of water course is

only 800 m. The Brahmaputra is

unnecessarily very wide, because of its

braided nature. The river need to be trained

towards the middle through greening of the

existing sand bar close to the banks on either side. The deflected flow then establish a regime

of channelised flow, if necessary human intervention by limited dredging should be done. This

will be a pro-active method, that is

sustainability is assured. It has to be people

movement. We need many more Jadav

Payeng to usher the movement for the cause

of the nation with Padmshri Jadav Payeng on

the lead.

"Sir, I have some reservation, I have

seen even some heavily green sand bar

vanish with trees there in flown down by the surge."Yes it may happen, if there is a barren

depression present within or by the side of the sandbar. That had to be silted up, if necessary

with structural intervention, like erection of porcupine. Then consolidate that depression raising

grass, shrub (Jhao, Bagari, Endi etc) so that siltation continue. "

Jadav Payeng in the making : In

his courtyard, comforted by the damp

breeze that originate from nearby Luit

the 'Forest Man of India' recounted his

life journey uncensored pouring his heart

to his new found confident. "Sir, I grew

up in mirth and merriment in my village

by the bank of the Brahmaputra. The big

river broaden our heart, although it

flooded my village occasionally, we the

Mishings are accustomed with that and

cope up with flood living in chang ghar, a

Jhanjimukh 2014

Jhanjimukh in 2015

house with raised platform. There were un-numbered trees, bamboo, thatch, cane for us to

draw material to construct our abode; we raised hen, duck, cows, buffaloes, pigs, pigeon. Our

village was a land of plenty - just name what we did not have - milk, fish, lentil, paddy,

sesame, mustard seed. Scarcity was unheard of. We had namghar for our observing religious

practice, settling internal dispute amicably, where we practiced our culture too and grew as

integral part of nature - simple - complexities of life was hundreds of mile away from us. Our

free will got expression in our Oi Niytams that reverberated in the air.

But one day, a devastating flood made us beggar on the street, many of us migrated to

Karki village on the other side - Majuli. I stood rooted in the shelter of good samaritan Anil

Barthakur of Baligaon, when my parent Laxmiram and Apholi deserted my birth place with

other nine siblings. I was admitted to a local school, barely I was eleven then. My empty

childhood took heavy toll on me, one day I ran out without completing my class X standard to

Kolkata and Delhi by train, just only to realise nothing can be better than my birth place. I

returned home, started earning bread as a daily wage earner. From my little saving, I bought a

cow to become self dependant.

Jadav's treasure Trove: Sir, the Brahmaputra is so braided, it keep changing courses,

it loves to play the game of siltation and erosion. The main stream that shattered our family

adrift to the north leaving a large sand bar - separated by a brook like stream from the north

bank. Looking at the barren island I was driven mad at the plight of my once prosperous

village turning to a crematorium.

Unlike any other hopeless romantic and a

raving revolutionary, like so many Assamese

men of the 1980's opted for armed revolutions

of many hues, I chose to plant trees of many

shades. The former is slowly escaping into the

ether, the annual cycle of floods and braving

constant erosion of the mighty Brahmaputra,

humming the couplet of Bhupen dada - Mok

ekhon swarag diya ji dhorat jiliki pore, mok ene

eti paribesh diya hiya jot saat pore (grant me

such a heaven which will be spectacular, grant me such an environment - where heart is at

peace). It all began back in 1979 when I was a teenager and the annual monsoon brought

hundreds of reptiles to the island, along with the usual logs, bits of wood, and hyacinths. When

the floodwater receded, the reptiles had nowhere to hide on the barren island. Exposed to the

scorching summer sun, they started to die of heat exposure in large numbers. The sight of the

carnage moved the me the young man immensely. I was hardly 15 [or] 16 years old. I wept a

lot seeing those dead reptiles. I felt that the reptiles didn't deserve to die premature, at least

one or two should have been alive!

Desperate to find a solution, I approached the village elders and urged them to take

action to make the island more hospitable to

wildlife. The elders said nothing could be done,

the reply came in form of a riddle - plant the

tallest grass of the world. They helped me with

20 bamboo shoots and suggested I try planting

them. There was none to lend me helping hand,

no one was interested. It was painful. But I was

inspired by their advice and resolved. Undeterred, I started planting the bamboo shoots, dreaming to make the islet a green

heaven with flora and fauna; a wood that is dark and deep, I have many promises to keep.

Bamboo apart, I began collecting and planting silk cotton and other indigenous plants like

Samalu, Azar and planted those around my hut. I also collected the seeds came floating in

floods and started germinating those. Time is passing down along with increased my size of

cow herd and height of the plants I planted and size of my forest increase to become deep

wood. It is no more a jungle, with myriad birds, reptiles, animals and other organism - it is a

deep wood now.

. Then, what you may call serendipity, in 2002, the state forest department initiated a

plan to reforest 200 hectares of land on the same sandbar islet. I was enrolled for a job as a

labourer for the project and started planting trees. The five-year project was abandoned after

only three years, but while the rest of the workers moved on to new jobs, I chose to stay back

to plant more trees on his own. What had started as a teenager’s desire to help the stranded

reptiles ended up becoming his life's mission.

Initially, finding seeds to plant was difficult, and I had compulsion to canoe to the

mainland to collect them. Gradually as the years passed, the mature trees on the islet

provided the necessary seeds for further extending the forest.

Watering the large number of saplings was also challenging for me as my wood gain

volume. During the dry summers, I used a an indigenous drip irrigation system to water them

drilling small holes in tekeli - the earthen pots, placing on bamboo platforms erected over the

saplings. The pots, which were filled from the river, slowly dripped water onto the plants, drying

out after a week. Transporting water from the river by buckets proved to be too much of labour

for one person, so I calendared my seed planting for spring - the onset of the annual pre-

monsoon season. By planting seedlings right before the monsoon, the plants received ample

rainwater and were able to withstand winter until the next rain.

To improve the fertility of the sandy soil I also ferried large amounts of cow dung,

organic matter and earthworms to the islet. Earth worms help to improve the soil fertility, they

burrow into the silt hardened surface, make [it] porous and arable, feed on withered leaves

and convert quickly into much needed organic matter facilitating plant roots to go deep and

feed on. My forest, which spans 1,360 acres, has a rich diversity of plants and animals. There

are more than 100 species of trees and medicinal plants, including arjun, goldmohur, and teak.

Along with these trees, I have planted orchids and a variety of fruit trees, including banana,

jamun, mango and jackfruit. A large part of the forest is covered by bamboo, spear grass and

tall elephant grass. I have dedicate about 500 acres of grassland for the elephants. Sir, an

elephant needs about 3 quintal feed and 90 litres of water a day. My morning broke at the

cacophony of myriad bird took shelter in my

woods and the baby cow crying for milk.

While it is still dark - Rajani is yet to be

Bidur, my day breaks. Sweeping my

courtyard I attend the cowshed straight,

milk the cows and set them free for day for

grazing. Fertile ground made my planting

very easy. but my heaven, the forest

stands tall, defying Grooming in the lap of

the serene beauty, melancholy was no

more haunting me. My wood is full of

hydrophytes like nol, khagori, ikora, birina, water hyacinth, fern, kahua, fungus, medicinal

plants, aromatic plants, manimuni, letagooti, jamlakhuti, gakhiroti grass, lai-jabari, keheraj,

dhatura, dubari, kenya bon. akashilota, banariya halodhi, pani kodom., tita bahek, digholoti,

chorat, raghumola, shimalu, futuka, ghora neem, nilaji bon. bagh achora, sojina, nuni,

narasingha, tulasi, bon jaluk, tengeshi, vedai lota, bih longoni, ajar, segun, outenga, custard

apple, simalu, mango, arjun, gamari, kodom, moha neem, bhatghila, dimaru, shiju, modar,

amlakhi, amora, kola jamiun, myriad plums. It give shelter to the estranged flood victim

elephants, tiger, deer, snakes; it is a home for more than 100 numbers of endangered vultures,

in addition to other avian like Dorikala, Pani Kauri - the wren, Maniari, Kanamuchari, Bagali-

the egrets, Bor Bog, Pani Bog, Wak Bog, Samuk Bhanga, Teliya Sareng, Bortokola, Hargila,

Akuhi Bog, Mah Dola, Boga Raj hah, Saru Sarali, Bor Sarali, Ghila Hah, bonoriya Pati hah,

silani, sen, bota charai, dorik, dauk, kam charai, dol mora, kath khochara, haitha, kopou, raj

bhatou (parrot), gol monika, keteki, kuli (cuckoo), Laxmi Fesha (owl), Bon Fesha, Kaal Fesha,

Machroka, Mou Piya, Hetuluka, Kathroka, sakhiyati, kath salika, moina charai, ghor salika, pati

kauri, dhora kauri, pahari bulbuli to name a few variety. My wood has all three tiers of canopy.

The inner court is so deep that even sun rays can't filter through. You need forest guard to

enter for security.''

''Jadav I envy you, with myriad birds, fish all around, you must have been feasting everyday''.

'' no sir, these are all my family members, not to talk of my fish and fowl, I don't even take milk.

Living far away from the polished society of the city, I am a stranger to the finery of

expression. I speak the truth, even if it hurt.' Earlier I used to don only a vest and a loin cloth-

gamocha my wife woven. Now that gentleman Jitu Kalita the scribe made my story known;

unnumbered people streaming in, I am no more a private man. Therefore you find me decently

clad.''

Family Life : ''Well, if I may intrude upon your personal privacy, may I ask you who

brokered your marriage in that solitary confinement, how you got married''. Jadav grinned

silently, ''To take an off from my domestic chore, sometime I socialise with the nearby

inhabitant, in the nearby Kartik Chapori; ther are also my tribes man. I also needed a break

and relax over our traditional Apong, which my acquaintances lavish to me. One of the family

was of Lakheswar and Banduki Barpak . I

had lot of sympathy for this have not family.

I was not knowing that they had a sweet

sixteen daughter, Bineeta, a damsel very

shy. She used to close her herself whenever

outsiders visit them. It strike me - she must

be a person of integrity. Taking advantage

of my proximity with her parent, I started

frequenting to them in the pretext of offering

a helping hand, just to draw her attention.

She also kept me in her observation - without coming close we fell in love. I don't know how

you will define it. However, our demeanour caught attention of her alert mother. she was

totally against marrying of her daughter

to a forest dweller. however, By the time

our love storey got public with rumours in

the air. in the guise of feeding water to

the cows sent for grazing in the field,

Bineeta came out of her home and had

secretly met me to design a plan for e

loping. One day in July of 1997, I eloped

with Bineeta rowing straight to my

mother's sister home in Lakhimpur. We

change shelter overnight to Majuli where

my parent lived. Learning the episode, my parents granted me permission to get married the

next day. Then we returned to our house

which Bineeta converted into a home, a

heavenly abode; this renewed my vigour

with my Lakhimi standing by me. The size

of my cattle increased, in parity with the

size of my family with two sons and a

daughter, and the forest. I own about 50

cows and buffaloes that live and graze in

and around my forest. I never adulterate

my produce of milk, my entire family,

including wife Bineeta, sons Sanjay and

Sanjiv and daughter Moonmooni, start our day at 3.30 a.m. By eight a.m. we have milked and

bathed the livestock and the milk is delivered to men who row it across to Jorhat. After a brief

break and meal, I lift my bag of seedlings and start walking briskly through the forest to the

banks of the Brahmaputra to row across to Mekahi island, my newest reforestation mission, I

started in July 2012. The children go to school. For their convenience of schooling, I shifted

my family to the southern bank - to Kokilamukh. In a canoe I cross over to the forest to attend

my duty. With Mekahi I am going to green the northern bank near Majuli."

Resistance and overpowering : But Sir, things were not that rosy altogether. From

2007 a herd of elephant 100 in numbers started visiting my forest for food. Sometime, they

cross over to Kokilamukh and northern Jorhat created havoc. The irate villages held 'Molai'

responsible for inviting this trouble and was about to set fire to my forest. Some torched it,

some axed. I resisted - 'Why train your anger on elephant over the trees. We owe our

civilisation to the forest', although wanton destruction of my forest sent me fuming, yet

unnerved I brave mob hitting their conscience. It clicked, the carnage died down. In 2010,

learning estranged Rhinos from Kaziranga taking shelter, some poachers entered my forest.

By the time I am known to the country and was honoured by many. Whenever I went out to

receive the honours, miscreants sneaked into my forest to gun down Rhinos, to harvest

valuable trees. They were almost succeeding misleading the public slamming me a smuggler

of wood. Sir, this pains me, injures me; also it pains me discovering some people with ulterior

motive in the guise of good Samaritan try to exploit my forest. Success has many father"

."Jadav, keep faith on the value - only truth prevails. Fight the evils hitting their conscience. it

turns foe to friend. Remember, a man is a born artist. Conscience identify the man from the

beast, to which it owe its origin. Beastly instincts are very much present in man, through a

series of reforms man attains this level of civilasation. When in rage, someone behave beastly

hit his conscience to bring the artist him to the fore. The poet premier Valmiki was a killer in

profession. Beauty of hitting conscience is that - it turns foe to friend for salvaging him".

How Jadav came to light : For over three decades, few people beyond Majuli knew

about Payeng or his forest. Then, in 2009, Jitu Kalita, a nature photographer and journalist,

who writes a popular column on nature in Prantik, an Assamese magazine, was stalking

vultures when he found himself on the far side of the Chapori. "Sir, I stumbled upon this oasis

when tipped off about it by the forest department officer Gunin Saikia, a person who holds his

official duty dear to his heart". As Kalita recollects, “I reached [the forest] by boat and started

walking along the forest periphery, trying to comprehend what I visualised. When I caught

Jadav's attention, taking me for a poacher, [he] virtually pounced on me and pushed me out of

the forest.” Taking no exception, undeterred I published an article about the forest in a local

newspaper, news of Payeng’s work spread across the world. Many awards and accolades

followed. A lone male wild buffalo had taken refuge in the forest and Payeng was worried that

it might attack the intruder. I was awestruck as first time I stepped into the forest, which was

the densest in the area. Intrigued, I followed the cowherd out, only to prize the biggest story of

my life. I wrote a great detail report in media - result Jadav is being recognised. He was even

called to Paris for an afforestation drive. When I visited him in that afternoon of spring, 2010 to

break the news that VC, JNU invites him to the University, Jadav was yet to be home.

Learning the invitation Bineeta's face appeared blotted of blood, she murmured to herself -

'how he can leave the forest exposing the estranged flood victim animals vulnerable!'. When I

was about to send a news report to the press for the first time, this unassuming man was

greatly perturbed; with his eyes welled up, stream coursing down his cheek, in a soaked voice

he pleaded with me - I don't need publicity if it leads to confiscation of my forest by the

government. Sir, I had to give him confidence - Indian constitution forbids none from greening

the country. Greening is no more a mission of Jadav and his family, it is their way of life. At the

same time he values the need of education, and is doing his utmost to educate his children

with best of possible affordable education.

Honours

Jadav Payeng was

honoured at a public

function arranged by

the School of

Environmental

Sciences, Jawaharlal

Nehru

University on 22 April 2012 for his remarkable

achievement. He shared his experience of creating a forest in an interactive session,

where Rajendra Singh Magsaysay laureate and JNU vice-chancellor Dr Sudhir Kumar

Sopory were present. Dr. Sopory named Jadav Payeng as "Forest Man of India". In the month

of October 2013, he was honoured at Indian Institute of Forest Management during their

annual event Coalescence. Dr A P J A Kalam is greatly touched by his work. The nation

recognised Jadav decorated him with Padmashri this year, Gauhaty university conferred him

PhD. Planting his trees Jadav received the information with humility.

Filmography

A locally made film documentary, produced by Jitu Kalita in 2012 The Molai Forest,[13] was screened at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Jitu Kalita, who lives near Payeng's house, has

also been featured and given recognition for good reporting by projecting the life of Payeng through his documentary.

William Douglas McMaster's 2012 film documentary Forest Man. The film was brought to completion and taken to a number of film festivals. It was awarded the Best Documentary prize at the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase in the American Pavilion at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. These are also the focus of the documentary Foresting life, directed by the Indian documentary filmmaker Aarti Shrivastava, celebrates the life and work of Jadav Payeng in the Molai forest in 2013.

"Sir, award to me will not green the earth, if we don't plant trees. Earth is becoming warmer,

climate is changing, we have prevent by greening. I accept those recognition with grace and

humility.".

Conclusion: - Legacy must carry forward: Jadav you have done justice to your life; legacy

must carry forward. You prepare our progeny, who know

no complexities of life - make each of them a green

warrior - let us green the Brahmaputra - our taking birth

will be graced. Climate is changing, it is threatening the

vary existence of human civilisation. The world

community is uniting in combating evils of climate

change and asks for sustainable development. Your

strategy is a part of the sustainable development model

for Assam. Let us green the Brahmaputra sand bar,

restore it ecology; remember Srimanta Sankardeva's

teaching - Samasta bhutate dekhibeko Narayan -

Vasudha ebo kutumbakam, the essence of eighteen

Upanisadas- observe divinity in all the elements. This is

also echoed by Paulo Coelho in the Alchemist - every

element of the universe has a soul. You asked the river

why it ran havoc? He reasoned, you listened. What conspired between you and the

Brahmaputra now spread out. Mother river epitomise filial love, it gives us life; but at times our

very own river, turns hostile. Let us

end that hostility through greening -

make Brahmaputra Green . Nature

set equilibrium for stability, with a

big heart we should extend hand

towards this end".

"Sir, I am a humble small fry. The

awards that decorate me are too

tall, I am dwarfed. I will get my

reward - the day the people make

the Brahmaputra green. Till date I only learnt through observation - restoration of ecology

supports the lives. But today I learnt - it saves my land from being washed away by the

turbulent river. Prisoner of conscience I am, award increases my responsibility - I will make the

Brahmaputra green with myriad students and likeminded ones - aji palo jeebanor artha

abhinava, swagat swagat satirtha"..