Bhubaneswar: A tribal man from Odisha’s Koraput district has been invited to speak on climate change and biodiversity conservation in the United States.
Hari Pangi of Tentuliguda village under Semiliguda block of the district is an ayurvedic doctor by profession. Besides rendering his services to the patients with ayurvedic medicines, 43-year-old Hari has opened a herbal medicine centre in his village where he sells the medicines prepared by him.
He is also carrying out research on herbal and medicinal plants available not only in Odisha but also 16 other states. He has collected those plants from forest areas in different parts of Odisha and planted those in his farmland. His counterparts in outside states are also helping him in this regard.
Known as Hari Vaidya in the area, he has already prepared 450 types of medicines from these herbal plants. These medicines can cure 105 types of ailments including COVID-19, he claimed.
“A lot of people, who had symptoms of COVID-19, have benefited from my medicines during the pandemic. We had prepared 3 types of herbal medicines for treatment of COVID. First type of medicine was given as preventive dose to those who were afraid of the disease and wanted to stay away from it. Many health workers, who were engaged in treatment of the COVID patients, benefited from this medicine,” said Hari.
“The second type of medicine is meant for the COVID patients having complaints of cough, breathing, lack of taste and smell. Hundreds of such patients have recovered from the medicine prepared by me within a week. While the patients who took other medicines took months to get back their sense of smell and taste, the herbal medicines restored these senses within 4 days,” he added.
Besides his services and research, Hari is also an environmental activist. He has been campaigning for conservation of forests as he claims that hundreds of plants with medicinal value can be found in the hills and forest of the country. “These precious plants can create wonder in not only treatment of diseases but also helping the people lead a healthy life. We should preserve and help grow these plants for our next generation,” said Hari.
The activist, who was conferred with Green Ambassador award by Odisha Environment Congress at a function in Central University in Koraput recently, has been invited to participate in International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States. He will speak on climate change and biodiversity conservation at the programme.
Hari will leave for the US on March 10 to participate in the IVLP programme to be held in Washington DC from March 13 to 31.
