From trash bird to treasure: Assam women and a cop-filmmaker turn hargila into a global star

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 5, 2025

Once dismissed as a filthy “trash bird” and driven to the brink of extinction, the Greater Adjutant Stork—locally known as Hargila—is now the face of one of India’s most powerful conservation stories, thanks to the unstoppable women of Assam’s Dadara-Pasaria villages and a cop with a camera.

The short documentary “HARGILA – The Greater Adjutant Stork,” directed by senior IPS officer and Guwahati Police Commissioner Parthasarathi Mahanta, captures this unlikely ecological comeback. At the centre of the story is Purnima Devi Barman, a grassroots conservation warrior and Whitley Award winner who rallied local women to protect the bird, once ranked among the IUCN’s top 20 most endangered species.

Through community action and a fierce cultural shift, the stork’s population has rebounded. What was once a reviled scavenger has become a local icon—celebrated, protected, and even worshipped. Women who once saw the bird as a nuisance now climb trees to protect its nests.

Produced by Mina Mahanta and Indrani Baruah, the film has racked up acclaim across the globe, earning selections at nine major international film festivals, including Mumbai Short Film Festival (2022), S.O.F.A Film Festival, Delhi Shorts International Film Festival, Tagore International Film Festival, Goa and Pune Short Film Festivals, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Jaipur International Film Festival (15th edition) and 13th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival.

It also grabbed a Special Mention at the National Film Awards 2022, praised for its impact, storytelling, and environmental message.

Now streaming on YouTube in honour of World Environment Day, the documentary gives viewers a front-row seat to a conservation revolution led not by scientists or bureaucrats—but by village women with grit, purpose, and love for a bird the world had nearly forgotten.

“HARGILA” isn’t just a film—it’s a flying middle finger to extinction.