Rich tributes to forest martyrs in Odisha

KENDRAPARA: Rich tributes were paid to five forest guards who lost their lives in the line of duty on National Forest Martyrs Day at Dangamal in Bhitarkanika National Park on Wednesday.

Forest guards, locals and environmentalists decorated the martyr’s tower in Dangamal. DFO of the park, Sudarshan Gopinath Yadav, said that on January 2, 1990, forest guard Sk Nur Mohammad and guard Sheikh Gafil were brutally murdered on Hukitola Island when they tried to prevent the timber mafia from plundering the mangrove forest.

Similarly, the timber mafia had buried the body of forest guard Dijabar Swain in the Akasadia forest on April 4, 1996, after killing him. Madhusudan Behera, a forest guard, was killed by a crocodile on April 24, 2000, while he was feeding the reptile at the hatchery and complex in Dangamal. The body of Shyamsundar Singh, a forest guard, was dumped in the sea by some fishermen in the Gahirmatha Marine Reserve. Singh was on patrol duty at sea to protect the Olive Ridley sea turtles.

“They sacrificed their lives to protect the forest and wildlife. We should not forget their dedication, which remains an inspiration for generations to come,” Yadav said.

Madhusudan’s son Manoranjan said his father used to feed ‘Ravana’, a 16-foot-long estuarine crocodile, in a pen in Dangamala. “But the crocodile killed my father 23 years ago. I was just 18 then,” he said.