A Green Crusader’s Gift To Nature: 60,000 Trees Planted And Grown Over 24 Years In Assam

Bongaigaon(Assam): While World Environment Day often becomes a stage for symbolic gestures and photo-ops, some silent heroes dedicate their lives to cultivating nature, not for accolades, but out of a deep-rooted sense of responsibility.

One such silent crusader is Budheshwar Ray, a government school teacher from Tulungia village in Bongaigaon district, who has single-handedly planted and nurtured more than 60,000 trees over the past 24 years.

Born into a poor farming family on April 2, 1975, Budheshwar grew up working in the fields with his father, Late Binan Chandra Ray. Despite financial hardship, he pursued higher education and began his teaching career in 2001.

However, even before drawing a regular salary, having served 11 years without pay, Budheshwar had embarked on his true life mission: to grow trees.

Since May 2001, he has spent his meagre income planting trees along highways, schools, villages, and barren lands, treating each sapling like a child of his own. His most remarkable feat includes the planting of over 12,000 fruit and shade trees along both sides of National Highway 31 (now NH-117) from Rakhaldubi to Tulungia.

In 2019, when the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) undertook a four-lane expansion project, nearly 12,000 of his nurtured trees were cut down, an incident that caused deep anguish to Budheshwar.

“Why wouldn’t I be angry?” he told ETV Bharat in an emotional conversation. “It took me years to grow those trees, and they were felled overnight. But I didn’t stop. I began planting again, with new hope and the same love.”

Despite this setback, Budheshwar restarted his mission - replanting saplings along the expanded highway using his own funds, never expecting anything in return. His plantation includes jamun, jackfruit, silk cotton, mango, rain tree, radhachura, krishnachura, and more- all chosen for their environmental and ecological benefits.

What sets Budheshwar apart is not just his dedication but his relentless follow-through. He waters the plants during droughts, protects them from stray cattle, and checks on their growth daily- all while fulfilling his duties as a full-time teacher at No. 173 Kuchiakata Primary School.

His work has inspired many, including local nature lovers like Harimohan Rabha, known as the “Snake Man”, who has long supported Budheshwar’s efforts. Members of the local youth group Club Fifty, including Abhijit Majumdar, Dilip Das, and Vidyut Kanti Roy, among others, have also extended their help.

Despite receiving no official recognition from the government, Budheshwar was honoured with the “Brikkhabandhav (Friends of Trees) Award” in 2018 by the cultural NGO Nrityam. Later, a few more NGOs followed suit with similar acknowledgements. But for someone who has planted tens of thousands of trees, these honours remain modest.

“Many people don’t value what we do,” he laments. “They hammer nails into trees for posters and banners. I request them not to do that. Trees are living beings, treat them with respect.”

Today, as environmental issues loom larger than ever, Budheshwar’s voluntary, unsponsored green movement stands as a beacon of hope, a testament to what one determined individual can do for the planet.