New Delhi, May 25: The man who grows bridges got India’s fourth-highest civilian award today.
Hally War, 69, a betel nut farmer from Meghalaya, received the Padma Shri from President Droupadi Murmu for weaving the Khasi Hills’ iconic Living Root Bridges — nature’s answer to steel and concrete.
Since age ten, War has trained the aerial roots of Ficus elastica trees across gorges in the East Khasi Hills, patiently guiding them into load-bearing paths locals call Jingkieng Jri. His masterpiece, the Umkar Living Root Bridge, has carried generations while anchoring soil and culture.
For five decades he’s mentored families to keep the bio-engineering craft alive, turning remote hamlets into eco-tourism hubs and fortifying the Sohra plateau against erosion.
“Shri War’s work shows indigenous knowledge can solve today’s ecological crises,” the citation said, calling him a global symbol of sustainable living.
The humble farmer still tends black pepper and betel nut when he’s not raising roots.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah were present as War became one of Meghalaya’s newest national icons at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
