Meet KM Abharna, The Real-Life 'Sherni' Who Inspired Vidya Balan's Character Of An IFS Officer
On Nov 2, 2008, Tigress T1, also known as Avni, was shot dead in the Yavatmal district of Maharastra. The tigress was believed to be responsible for the deaths of 13 people in the state in two years. The cubs of T-1 tigress were later tranquilized and shifted to the Rescue center.?
If you replace T1 with Pandharkawada tigress T12, it became the story of Sherni, the Vidya Balan-starrer film which is giving people chills for it is so close to reality.?
In the film, Balan stars in the role of Indian Forrest Service (IFS) officer, a role many believe has been inspired by IFS officer KM Abharna. Here's all you need to know about her.?
KM Abharna was in charge of the case of Avni. She was posted in the Pandharkavda division as the Deputy Conservator of Forest when the situation there became tough owing to man-animal conflict.?
It is said that just like Balan's character, she also handled the man-animal conflict in the region. She formed a team of female forest guards who were in touch with the villagers. She also laid out camera traps in order to tackle Avni and monitored it 24x7.?
Apart from this, she was highly praised for spreading awareness among the people.?
What does she have to say about the film??
In an interview with TOI, she revealed that she wasn't approached by the filmmakers or the star cast for the film. She said that film lacks originality and there is a lot of fictionalization.?
"There is too much dilution when it comes to killing T1 (T12 in the movie). Some facts as used as they were. It portrays how T1 started killing humans after I joined. But when I joined in August 2017, the tigress had already mauled 5 villagers. It was after August that proper identification and systematic monitoring started."?
"There is a lot of fictionalization. But it is also true that it may be perhaps the first film to highlight the ground problems of foresters and the landscape management issues. The director Amit Masurkar has filmed Sherni in Madhya Pradesh showing a different landscape. Had the filming been done in T1 habitat in Pandharkawada, it would have made a different impact as viewers would have come to know how tigers live with cubs in such a fragmented habitat."?
Like she said, she took care of the region when the tigress was had already killed five people and people were agitating against the department. From manhandling the officials to?protest, road blockades and refusal to perform last rights, the aggression was only growing. She formed nine teams of lady guards who were in touch with the villagers in order to reach out to people.
Before taking over the case, KM Abharna was posted at Central Range of Kaziranga National Park, which is known for the largest population of Indian one-horned rhinoceroses across the world. There as well, her work was commendable.?
Not only did she make efforts to reduce the poaching of rhinos in the regions but also ensured zero-poaching there. She had also put a ban on plastic in the region and stopped illegal fishing networks.?
Later, she worked as an Assistant Conservator Forest officer and contributed to community-based research. She also took care of the report on the human-monkey conflict in about 40 villages of Dergaon Range, Golghat Forest Division, Assam in 2015.?
She is currently posted as director of Bamboo Research and Training Centre in Maharashtra.?
Meanwhile, hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan and his son Asghar Ali Khan think the movie, Sherni, has painted them in a bad light and might hamper the ongoing investigation. Hence, they have served a notice to the makers of the Amazon Prime Video film.?
"My father and I were portrayed in poor light as if we (are) trigger happy persons, and adds, "Film Sherni could further aggravate the issue or may add fuel to the fire, which will not only hamper the ongoing investigation but will also prejudice the rights besides causing severe damage to their reputation," Asghar was quoted as saying by TOI. Read the full story here.
