Koraput: Hari Pangi, a traditional healer, and researcher from Koraput district narrated Tuesday the efficacy of medicinal plants growing on Iswaramali, Deomali, and Hatimali hills that form a part of the Malyabant or Mali hill range. Pangi is the director of ‘Sri Gupteshwar Herbal Medicine and Traditional Technology Research Institute’ which he had founded in 2000 along with nine other healers. Sources said that the Mali hill range is the elixir of life for the people of 45 picturesque villages nestled in it. The hills, belonging to the state Forest department provide many medicinal plants that residents of the villages use to cure their ailments.
Incidentally, the villages are located just five kilometres from Semiliguda town in this district. So many patients from Semiliguda visit Pangi’s institute for treating their ailments. Pangi spoke on the utility of medicinal plants while attending the ‘International Visitors Leadership Training Programme’ held recently at the University of Oregon in the USA.
At the meeting, Pangi spoke elaborately on the harsh heat effects and how climate change is affecting the rich biodiversity and medicinal plants growing on the Mali hill range. He also spoke on herbs and medicinal plants and their utility in protecting people in rural areas from various diseases. Pangi was the only person from Odisha who was invited to attend this international conference. He drew appreciation after he spoke on the utilities of traditional medicinal plants like Bisalyakarani, Gangasiuli, and Kochila and used traditional knowledge to treat thousands of people visiting him from various parts of Odisha. Pangi said that the ‘disharis’ (workers in his institute) collect herbs, leaves, roots, and flowers from the Mali hill range and use them for making traditional medicines. He added that some of these medicines can be preserved for a substantial period of time if stored in a proper manner and at a specific temperature.