Man Spends 40 Years Planting a Tree on Barren Island Every Day, Now It’s a Giant Forest
In 1979, Jadav Payeng—a then-16-year-old resident of Assam, India—made a startling discovery: several dead snakes scattered along the sandy banks of the Brahmaputra River's Majuli Island. Having been displaced by flooding, the creatures were then killed due to the island's lack of shade. This gruesome sight resonated strongly with Payeng, inspiring him to act. “When I saw it, I thought even we humans will have to die this way in the heat,” he told NPR.









































































