DIBRUGARH: Unidentified miscreants set fire on Sunday to the Molai Kathoni 2.0 forest, a newly cultivated green cover created by “Forest Man of India” Jadav Payeng and his 21-year-old daughter, Munmuni Payeng, on a sandbar of the Brahmaputra river in Majuli district. The blaze caused extensive damage to the man-made forest.Developed since 2022 on a barren sandbar, the plantation had emerged as a growing habitat for birds and small wildlife before large patches were reduced to ash.
“I was informed about the fire around 11.30am. We rushed to the site as soon as we got the call and reached there in about 40 minutes,” Munmuni recounted. She was joined by around 10 others, including her brothers, nephews, friends aged between 14 and 21, and two villagers. Armed with only tree leaves and machetes, the group cut surrounding bushes to create fire lines and beat down the flames for nearly three hours. “We finally managed to control the fire at around 2.15pm,” she added.Munmuni said several bird nests were destroyed in the blaze. Footprints of deer were visible on the scorched ground, though no carcass was found. “It is a very sad day for us. The forest suffered a massive loss, affecting the trees, birds, and insects,” she said.She also revealed that forest minister Chandra Mohan Patowary called her while she was still trying to douse the fire, expressing concern. However, even 24 hours after the incident, no forest official or staff had visited the site from either Majuli or Jorhat.The Molai Kathoni 2.0 project represents an extension of Jadav Payeng’s original forest conservation legacy. The 66-year-old Padma Shri awardee from the indigenous Mising tribe has dedicated more than three decades to transforming barren sandbars into thriving ecosystems. He single-handedly created the original 1,360-acre Molai forest, which today hosts rhinos, tigers, elephants, deer, and numerous bird species.Payeng’s journey began in the 1970s when he started planting bamboo and seedlings on wasteland. His dedication earned him the Padma Shri in 2015, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, along with international recognition for grassroots conservation.However, the forest’s biodiversity has increasingly attracted timber smugglers, poachers, and encroachers. Despite periodic joint patrols by police and forest departments to check illegal logging and poaching, this latest arson attack exposes serious gaps in protection mechanisms.
