Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna and the Chipko Movement.

The great crusader Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna was hospitalized earlier today after suffering a heart attack. He has been admitted to the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, and his condition is said to be stable.

Sunderlal Bahuguna is among the most respected and admired individual in world of environmental conservation, Gandhian teachings and philosophy. He has used non-violence path preached by Mahatma Gandhi in his endeavor to fight oppression of the poor, attack on nature, human rights violation and various causes considered to be of prime importance to us all. But people all over the world remember him most for his efforts in the field of environment conservation; especially the path breaking initiative to stop felling of thousand of tress in the name of development, which went on to be named ''The Chipko Movement". This movement has been replicated to great effect by conservation organization all our world.

Recently, Bahuguna lent support to the massive Janadesh rally, in which nearly 25,000 landless labourers, tribals and others marched to the capital in a bid to make the government listen to their demands and address their grievances.

Bahuguna, a Gandhian peace worker, played an active role in the Chipko and anti-Tehri Dam movements. His ideology centers around the belief that“ecology is permanent economy”.

Let us all wish him a speedy recovery and hope that he will be leading many new challenges masquerading as opportunities in this time of dynamic times facing our country and the country as a whole.

Wish you a speedy recovery Mr. Bahuguna.

Chipko movement

The Chipko movement was a group of villagers in the Uttarakhand region of India who opposed commercial logging. The movement is best known for its tactic of hugging trees to prevent them being cut down. This gave rise to the term tree hugger for environmentalists. Also, it was notable in that the movement was led by women who were influenced by Mahatma Gandhi . The name of the movement comes from the Hindi word for 'embrace', as the villagers hugged the trees, and prevented the contractors' from felling them.

Motivators for the movement

Their opposition to deforestation was motivated by a combination of environmental and economic concerns. The felling of forests of Banj (Himalayan Oak, and their replacement by Chir Pine, reduced the amount of undergrowth and hence led to increased flooding. Among the movement's economic demands were that no forest-exploiting contracts be given to outsiders, a miniumum wage for forest labourers, and the provision of low-cost materials for local small-scale industries.

Was It Part of a Hierarchey?

The movement denied any formal hierarchy, but particularly influential members included Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt. The writer and activist Vandana Shiva was also involved in the Chipko movement in the 1970s.

When was the First Chipko Action?

The first Chipko action took place spontaneously in April 1973 in the village of Mandal in the upper Alakananda valley and over the next five years spread to many districts of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh. It was sparked off by the government's decision to allot a plot of forest area in the Alaknanda valley to a sports goods company. This angered the villagers because their similar demand to use wood for making agricultural tools had been earlier denied. With encouragement from a local NGO (non-governmental organization), DGSS (Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh), the women of the area, under the leadership of an activist, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, went into the forest and formed a circle around the trees preventing the men from cutting them down.
Bahuguna coined the Chipko slogan: 'ecology is permanent economy'. Ghanasyam Raturi, the Chipko poet, whose songs echo throughout the Himalayas of Uttar Pradesh, wrote a poem describing the method of embracing the trees to save them from felling:

"Embrace the trees and
Save them from being felled;
The property of our hills,
Save them from being looted."

History

Though this movement gained prominence in the 1970s , the Bishnoi community in Rajasthan (a province in north western India are said to have been the progenitors of this movement during the around the year 1730 . A large number of villagers, a total 363 people, lost their lives trying to protect Khejri trees from being felled by the soldiers of the Maharaja of Jodhpur at a village called Khejarli.

The Chipko movement

In the 1970s, an organized resistance to the destruction of forests spread throughout India and came to be known as the Chipko movement. The name of the movement comes from the word 'embrace', as the villagers hugged the trees, and prevented the contractors' from felling them.

Not many people know that over the last few centuries many communities in India have helped save nature. One such is the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan. The original ’Chipko movement’ was started around 260 years back in the early part of the 18th century in Rajasthan by this community. A large group of them from 84 villages led by a lady called Amrita Devi laid down their lives in an effort to protect the trees from being felled on the orders of the Maharaja (King) of Jodhpur. After this incident, the maharaja gave a strong royal decree preventing the cutting of trees in all Bishnoi villages.

In the 20th century, it began in the hills where the forests are the main source of livelihood, since agricultural activities cannot be carried out easily. The Chipko movement of 1973 was one of the most famous among these. The first Chipko action took place spontaneously in April 1973 in the village of Mandal in the upper Alakananda valley and over the next five years spread to many districts of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh. It was sparked off by the government's decision to allot a plot of forest area in the Alaknanda valley to a sports goods company. This angered the villagers because their similar demand to use wood for making agricultural tools had been earlier denied. With encouragement from a local NGO (non-governmental organization), DGSS (Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh), the women of the area, under the leadership of an activist, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, went into the forest and formed a circle around the trees preventing the men from cutting them down.

The success achieved by this protest led to similar protests in other parts of the country. From their origins as a spontaneous protest against logging abuses in Uttar Pradesh in the Himalayas, supporters of the Chipko movement, mainly village women, have successfully banned the felling of trees in a number of regions and influenced natural resource policy in India. Dhoom Singh Negi, Bachni Devi and many other village women, were the first to save trees by hugging them. They coined the slogan: 'What do the forests bear? Soil, water and pure air'. The success of the Chipko movement in the hills saved thousands of trees from being felled.

Some other persons have also been involved in this movement and have given it proper direction. Mr Sunderlal Bahuguna, a Gandhian activist and philosopher, whose appeal to Mrs Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, resulted in the green-felling ban. Mr Bahuguna coined the Chipko slogan: 'ecology is permanent economy'. Mr Chandi Prasad Bhatt, is another leader of the Chipko movement. He encouraged the development of local industries based on the conservation and sustainable use of forest wealth for local benefit. Mr Ghanasyam Raturi, the Chipko poet, whose songs echo throughout the Himalayas of Uttar Pradesh, wrote a poem describing the method of embracing the trees to save them from felling:

The Chipko protests in Uttar Pradesh achieved a major victory in 1980 with a 15-year ban on green felling in the Himalayan forests of that state by the order of Mrs Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India. Since then, the movement has spread to many states in the country. In addition to the 15-year ban in Uttar Pradesh, the movement has stopped felling in the Western Ghats and the Vindhyas and has generated pressure for a natural resource policy that is more sensitive to people's needs and ecological requirements.

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