India, April 8 -- In a remarkable story of environmental resilience, Bengalata Rout, locally known as 'Benga Maa', of Tandahar village in Astaranga block in Puri district, has transformed barren stretches of coastal land into thriving green belts, creating two forests of casuarina and other wind and tide-shielding trees.

Sources reported that the now elderly woman began this transformation of hers almost single-handedly after the devastating 1999 supercyclone in Odisha. Over the last 25 years, she has also gathered the support of several local women who have joined her on this 'green mission'.

A Daily Fight Against Coastal Erosion Armed with a sapling in one hand and a digging tool in the other, the Bengalata Rout sets out daily to plan...