CHIPKO MOVEMENT

CHIPKO MOVEMENT

Subject : Environment

Context : In Raini, village of Chipko movement, people spending nights in forests.

Concept :

• In fear of a recurrence of more calamites after disaster struck the area on Sunday, residents of Raini village spent Sunday night in the forest, about 1-km from their homes.

Chipko movement:

• Chipko movement was the uprising against the felling of trees and maintaining the ecological balance originated in Uttar Pradesh’s Chamoli district (now Uttarakhand) in 1973.
• 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 a silent, non-violent protest condemning ecological destruction.
• SundarlalBahuguna, a famous Gandhian, is said to have initiated this movement to guard the trees on the Himalayan slopes.
• Bahuguna is also known for coining the Chipko slogan ‘ecology is permanent economy’
• The movement’s biggest triumph was making people aware of their rights to forests, and how grassroots activism can influence policy-making regarding ecology and shared natural resources.