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Yadav_Molai_Payeng.pdf
RESEARCH OCTOBER 2015
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3633.7366

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Kaziranga University
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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 everyones 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.

Suspension occurs here

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

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
Jhanjimukh
path of least resistance. Generally thus,
erosion in presandy banks are easy targets - result
2009
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
Porcupine launched in lean season
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
Porcupine submerged flood
consolidate the sandbars with vegetation,
which some followed in letter and spirit,

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 post monsoon same year

Greenery recurs, can be accelerated with human

intervention, Make it a people's movement

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
Jhanjimukh 2009
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
Jhanjimukh 2012
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

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 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 teenagers 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 premonsoon 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, Bagalithe 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 clothgamocha 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 Payengs 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"..