We all have been heard from our teacher about planting
a tree is important to us even for the coming future. I want to ask to all my
readers one question that “Have ever planted a tree in your life”? Answer me
via commenting on comment box, Be genuine to yourself.
Today I want to share a true story of a teenage boy
who when saw snake died because of heat in one of the village of Assam as there
were no trees where they can hide and save themselves from the terrible heat.
This incident changed his life he not only planted a tree even he planted the
Forest. Yes, he single handedly planted a forest which is called ‘Molai Forest’
named after his name Jadav “Molai” Payeng.
This all started when Molai Peyeng completed his Class
X exams from Baligaon Jagannath Baruah Arya Vidyalaya in Jorhat and returned to
his birthplace at Aruna Chapori, a river island on the Brahmaputra. On reaching
there he witnessed something which was totally shock for him that snake was
dying because there was no tree where they can hide save themselves.
"The snakes died in the heat, without any tree
cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage. I alerted
the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said
nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was
painful, but I did it. There was nobody to help me. Nobody was
interested," says Payeng.
Molai Peyang was distresses
and for counseling went to the nearby Deori community village. The snakes had
been washed up to the sandbar by floods and had died without tree cover.
The villagers suggested him
to grow trees to save the reptiles. For where there are trees, there are birds,
and where there are birds, there will be birds’ eggs and fledglings - food for
snakes and their ilk. Along with their native wisdom, the villagers offered the
boy 50 seeds and 25 bamboo plants. The young boy is all set to grow a plant on
the island and he started sowing the seed.
Religiously since then,
Payeng visited the island and planted a few saplings every day for all these
years.
"The island was close
to my home and I began by planting bamboo and indigenous or non-valuable
plants. It’s only since the past 15 years that I have begun to plant high value
trees like teak," says Peyang.
Watering the growing area
of plants posed a problem. He could not draw water from the river and water all
the growing plants, as the area proved to be vast for one man.
He built a bamboo platform
on the top of each sapling and placed earthen pots with small holes in them.
The water would gradually drip on the plants below and water them through the
week until the pots were drained off water.
Payeng also released
termites, ants, earthworms and insects to work the soil to a fertile condition.
"Termites and ants are
very good at improving the soil fertility. They burrow into the hard-rocky surface
making the soil porous and easy to plough," says Peyeng.
Today, that same land hosts
1,360 acres of Jungle. That forest is now home to Bengal tigers, Indian
rhinoceros, over 100 deer and rabbits besides apes and several varieties of
birds, including a large number of vultures. There are several thousand trees.
Bamboo covers an area of over 300 hectares. A herd of around 100 elephants
regularly visits the forest every year and generally stays for around six
months. They have given birth to 10 calves in the forest in recent years.
“I never thought that my
small initiative would make such a difference one day,” says Peyeng.
“The education system
should be like this, every kid should be asked to plant two trees,” Payeng
says.
In 1980, he started working
with the social forestry division of Golaghat district when they launched a
scheme of tree plantation on 200 hectares at Aruna Chapori situated at a
distance of 5 km from Kokilamukh in Jorhat district.
Payeng was one of the
labourers who worked in that 5-year-long project. He chose to stay back after
the completion of the project even after other workers left. He looked after
the plants and continued to plant more trees on his own, in an effort to
transform the area into a forest.
Payeng belongs to a tribe
called “Mishing” in Assam, India. He lives in a small hut in the forest with
his wife, and his 3 children. He has cattle and buffalo on his farm and sells
the milk for his livelihood, which is his only source of income.
“My friends have become
engineers and are living in the city. I have sacrificed everything
and this Jungle is my home now. The recognition and awards that I
have received is my wealth and that makes me the happiest man in the
world,” says Payeng.
At the age of 39, on the
insistence of village elders, Payeng married 25-year-old Binita and they have
three children.
As his forests grew, they
posed new problems for the villagers who posed a challenge to Payeng. The
forest’s wild elephants began to stray to the villages on the edge of the
forest and damage the crops and agricultural fields. Tigers were also noted
hunting small village fowls and pheasants. Angry villagers told Payeng that
they would destroy his forest as the animals were posing a threat to their
lives and crops. Payeng began to plant more trees, especially banana trees, a
favourite food for elephants in his jungle. When they get adequate food within
the forest, the elephants stopped coming out to the villages, and soon the
population of animals such as deer grew, providing enough game for the wild
tigers.
"Nature has made
a food chain; why can't we stick to it? Who would protect these animals if we,
as superior beings, start hunting them?" says Peyang.
For his remarkable solo
undertaking, the Jawaharlal Nehru University invited Payeng on Earth Day and
honoured him with the title of the ‘Forest Man of India’ in 2012.
In 2015, he was honoured Doctorate from Guwahati University and received the Padma Shri Award from Government of India. “The Padma Shri is an award
for encouragement,” he says, “but my aim has always been to do good for the
country. Even the President of India has to do something for the earth;
otherwise, there will be nobody left, nothing.’
Expectedly, he spends all
the cash awards on more forest. He has now recruited four labourers for
planting as he eyes another 5,000-acre area.