Several efforts are being made to protect forests by both the Central and state Government, but ‘Lady Tarzan’ Jamuna Tudu’s fight for environmental protection has stood out. Her decade-long struggle to preserve the forests in Chakulia, East Singhbhum of Jharkhand has even put her life in danger at times as she took on the mafia head-on, but she perseveres.
38-year-old Jamuna Tundu of Singhbhum district of Jharkhand is known as Lady Tarzan. In 1998, when Jamuna was married to Badaddih Tola, a village in Jharkhand. Jamuna felt that much of the forest is getting cut around his village. Jamuna asked the villagers to stop cutting trees, but no one heard her. Jamuna did not give up and joined the forest mafia to save the forest from harvesting by adding four women.
In 2004, the Forest Guard Committee formed, with 60 women from the village connected, seeing active participation from women, men also came together. Now there is a group of 300 women, who do not let the forest cut in the area. The whole village ties the Rakhi to the trees. On the birth of a daughter, there is a tradition of planting 18 plants. At the time of marriage, 10 plants are given to the family. This tradition was started by Jamuna herself. Van Raksha Samiti members not only tie Rakhis on trees but also take up the bow-and-arrow and file police cases against those who fell trees illegally.
It is a dangerous job and she has survived threats and attacks. But nothing deters her, she says. “Saving forests is my job and passion. There’s no place for fear. I’ve also inspired many women to join me in the crusade to save forests, which I think was important because it made an impact on rural society and got people talking about our cause,” she said.
We at Grow-Trees, congratulate her for this Award and wishing her all the best. In case you too want to support the environment by planting a tree then visit https://bit.ly/2sSOJX5 to plant trees in two minutes and use Grow-Trees’s TreeCertificate to greet your friends and family on their birthday/anniversary.