Bijay Kumar Swain (77), an ardent environment and forest professional and Indian Forest Service official, who was highly committed to research and innovation in the fields of Forestry, Silviculture, Bamboo Forest Management, Medicinal Plants of Odisha, and Community Forest Management, passed away at a Bhubaneswar-based hospital.

Swain, a meritorious student throughout his career, had visited Oxford University. After his superannuation in 2008, he pursued his research on the glorious Maritime History of Kalinga.

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He made a point to visit ancestral locations and read Sanskrit inscriptions to explore the Kalinga tradition. He authored two books, The Kalinga Heritage and Kalinga – Pioneer of Indianisation of Southeast Asia.

He is survived by his wife Smt Jayanti Swain, two daughters, son-in-laws and grandchildren.

He has two daughters Dr Roma Rattan MBBS (MD) now – Joint DMET and Mrs Roopa Roshan Sahoo -IAS.

His son-in-law Dr Debashish Nayak is a senior consultant in Apollo Hospital, a Cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon and his younger son-in-law Anup Kumar Sahoo is an IPS officer.