Forest Man of India Jadav Payeng reveals ‘I will be the hero of my biopic'

Padmasri Jadav Molai Payeng, popularly known as the "Forest man of India" stated ‘I will be the hero of my biopic. I don't want anyone else to play my role if at all any biopic is made on me in the future.’ 

Payeng, who is said to have planted more than 4 crore trees was addressing India's biggest gathering of Environmental professionals representing some of the best-known corporate houses and public sector undertakings, and government bodies. He was addressing them on the opening day of the two-day National Summit on Tuesday in Hotel Taj Vivanta in Guwahati.

Jadav Molai Payeng graced the meeting as a guest of honor at the National Summit being organized by the New Delhi-based Greentech Foundation. 

Replying to a question that hundreds of documentaries were already made about him and there has been an understanding that the plans were on the anvil to make a Bollywood movie on his life journey, he said, "Na..Na..na...he said and added, “I will do my role. I may not know acting, but still, I can live in that role. What else did a director or movie buff want."

Explaining his journey of planting 250-plus tree and coming face-to-face with who is who of environmental field across India, he said, "The only thing I know is planting trees. And I continue to do so till my last breath. I eat, sleep, drink, and breathe tree plantation. I can't think of anything beyond that," he said. 

Unfortunately, there is not much land available in Assam to plant more trees, he added.

"I went on to plant saplings and seeds along a dry sandbar by the Brahmaputra in Assam, creating a forest that stands at 550 hectares today on the island of Majuli near Jorhat," he explained to the packed audience, who gave him thunderous applaud on his achievement. 

He shared his new mission to make Mexico greener. He spoke about NGO Azteca, where he collaborated on environmental projects in Mexico which aim to plant 7 million trees in that country.

At the end of his talk, he also received a standing ovation from the audience when the emcee summarised his achievements as one man who has been planting trees for 43 years and developed a forest of 550 hectares, and planted 4 crore plus saplings.

The forest Molai Kathoni, located near Kokilamukh in Assam’s Jorhat district, is now the home to tigers, elephant herds, deer, rabbits, and a wide diversity of native and migratory species and thousands of trees.