Recently, Sunderlal Bahuguna, the Gandhian who was the driving force behind the Chipko movement died due to Covid-19.

Although the Chipko Movement, to protect the Himalayan forests from destruction,has its origins in the 18th century Rajasthan, Bishnoi community. The incident has been etched in the annals of history for the sacrifice of a group of villagers, who led by a lady named Amrita Devi.

The Chipko movement was a non-violent agitation in 1973 that was aimed at protection and conservation of trees, but, perhaps, it is best remembered for the collective mobilisation of women for the cause of preserving forests.

The uprising against the felling of trees and maintaining the ecological balance originated in Uttar Pradesh’s Chamoli district (now Uttarakhand) in 1973 and in no time spilled onto other states in north India. The name of the movement ‘chipko’ comes from the word ’embrace’, as the villagers hugged the trees and encirled them to prevent being hacked.  It was then that environmentalist and Gandhian social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt, founder of the cooperative organisation Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh, led the first Chipko movement near the village of Mandal in 1973.

The movement gained traction under Sunderlal Bahuguna, an eco activist, who spent his life persuading and educating the villagers to protest against the destruction of the forests and Himalayan mountains. Initiated the chipko movement to guard the trees on the Himalayan slopes. Known for coining the Chipko slogan ‘ecology is permanent economy’

OTHER ENVIRONMENT MOVEMENTS

Appiko Movement is one of the forests based environmental movements of India, often looked at as a continuation of the Chipko Movement. The movement took place in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka in the Western Ghats. It can be said that Appiko movement is the southern version of the Chipko movement.

The Silent Valley Movement is one of the most important ecological movements in India emerged which spearheaded the protest against the construction of the dam across the Kunthi River in the Silent Valley;included the protection of the tropical rainforest, maintenance of the ecological balance, and an opposition destructive development

Narmada Bachao Movement The most popular movement in the environmental history of India is the movement against the Narmada River Valley Project g towards proper rehabilitation programmes for the dam displaced. . Their demands included complete stopping of the dam, resettlement and rehabilitation benefits to the oustees…

Save Dehing-Patkai

This movement began as a protest against the April 2020 decision by the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) to allow North-Eastern Coal Fields (NEC) to do opencast mining in 98.59 hectares of Dehing-Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

Save Aarey

A petitions against the felling of the Aarey Colony for the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s (MMRLC) metro 3 car-shed. Which led to  protest rallies

Development led displacement leads to distress migration of Tribal and the worst victims are women and children; so it has social, cultural, ecological and human cost than just having and economic cost.

Since development is considered inevitable for the economic growth of the country,the government while formulating development policies should have a humanistic, cultural and ecological sensitive rehabilitation approach and balance with ecology that could make development inclusive, people centric and environment friendly.