Q.4. Write a short note on the following environmental movements:
(a) Chipko Movement
(b) Silent Valley
(c) Bishnois of Rajasthan
Ans. (a) Chipko Movement
Introduction: The Chipko Movement was started in the northern Himalayan segment of Uttar Pradesh, the area that is well known as Uttarakhand. The word "chipko" refers "to stick" or "to hug". The name of the movement comes from a word meaning "embrace": where the villagers hug the trees, saving them by interposing their bodies between them and the contractors' axes.
Objectives:
-to ensure an ecological balance.
-to ensure the survival of the tribal people whose economic activities revolved around these forests
Movement:
The Chipko Movement was started in the 1970s in Uttarakhand state by founder Sunderlal Bahugana along with many volunteers and women with the aim of protecting the trees by clinging to them with a non-violent protest. Sunderlal Bahuguna was a renowned Gandhi Follower and he emphasized on the Gandhian non-violence protest/ Satyagraha. The rising deforestation had affected the huge area of Garhwal, the northern Himalayan region of Uttarakhand. The people living nearby the region were fully dependent on the trees in the region. This is when the people started sensing the need for protecting and conserving the trees.
The Chipko Movement was a big success against the people who wanted to the cut down a huge number of trees for personal benefits. The movement succeeded in creating a trigger for other people and communities in India to come forward to protest and protect the trees. Soon the movement became a national phenomenon and became one of the biggest ecological movements.
Conclusion: The biggest outcome of the Chipko Andolan was seen in the 1980s. when then prime minister of India, Mrs. Indi Gandhi, posted a 15 years ban on the tree felling in the Himalayan forests in the Uttarakhand state.
Ans. (b) Silent Valley
Introduction: The Silent Valley extends over 90 square kilometres in the state of Kerala. A river named Kunthipura flows across the valley from north to south. In the year 1973, the state government announced the construction of a dam at the upper reach of the sloping stream of the river. The project was planned and they decided to generate 120 megawatts of electricity initially and after 240 megawatts subsequently.
Movement: After a few protests by the local communities in the area, this became a national issue. The government still insisted on completing the project. In 1976, the largest popular-science organization in Kerala, named Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) launched a mass signature campaign.
At that time, the KSSP movement made the state government postpones the implementation of the project. In May 1979, at that time the then Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai, directed the state government to expedite the completion of the project.
Many environmentalists of the India including Salim Ali had raised their voice in the assembly of the legislative and gave their objections. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) also registered its disapproval. A public interest litigation case was filed in the High Court which was, however, dismissed subsequently.
Finally, in December 1980, the Kerala Government announced the scrapping of the project. The Silent Valley was declared as a National Park, by the state government
Ans. (c) Bishnois of Rajasthan
Bishnoi tribe of Western Rajasthan has, over the centuries, committed to the conservation of forests, trees and wild animals in and around their villages. Bishnois do not cut trees for fuel and timber, they remove only the dead trunks and twigs. Spotted deer, black buck and blue bull can be seen foraging fearlessly in their fields. Even if the crop is consumed by herds of deer, the Bishnois do not chase away the animals.
In 1730 A.D. Maharaja Abhaya Singh of Jodhpur ordered cutting of trees in large numbers to provide timber for building a fortress. He sent soldiers to Bishno villages to cut down khejari trees growing in the area. When soldiers applied the axe, the Bishnoi villagers pleaded to spare the trees. When the soldiers did not relent, they hugged the trees and as many as 363 of them laid down their lives to save the trees.
The Bishnois worship nature in all its manifestations, conserve trees and medicinal plants, provide food and water to animals, and are vegetarians in their diet, as advocated by their Guru Jambaji. Jambaji had founded Bishnoi sect after a drought in the Marwar region of Rajasthan. He made a community having 29 principles to follow, which included worship of lord Vishnu and ban on killing animals and the felling of trees. One of his 29 principles is to protect trees and animals, thus trees and animals are considered to be sacred by the Bishnois.
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