Nuapada: A tribal woman in her late sixties has spent over 40 years of her life to fulfill her husband’s dream of creating a dense forest in Karadungri of Saradhapur PRF forest under the Sinapalli forest range in Nuapada district.
The woman in question is Hiradri Majhi. Fifty years back her husband Angad Majhi had dreamt of converting Karadungri into a dense forest.
To keep with Angad’s dream the couple protected Karadungri. Midway through his dream, Angad passed away due to some unknown illness.
For over 40 years, Hiradri has been roaming the Karadungri forest on nearly 11 hectares of land with an axe on her shoulder to protect her husband’s dream from the timber mafia.
She stays in a hut near the forest with her son and daughter-in-law. The family’s main occupation is to protect the forest.
Hiradri is popular as ‘Banarani’ (forest queen) among the locals. The Forest Department has conferred Hiradri with the Prakruti Mitra award. Several organisations have felicitated her for her noble work.
