Chipko Movement in India

CHIPKO MOVEMENT IN INDIA!
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. This became popular as “Chipko movement”.
Chipko movement is a grassroot level movement, which started in
response to the needs of the people of Uttarakhand. The rate of heavy
depletion of forests was resulting in destruction, arid- making the
Himalayan mountain range barren. Moreover, the construction of
dams, factories and roads had already led to deforestation.
Most of the leaders of the Chipko Movement were village women and
men who strove to save their means of subsistence and their
communities. Sunderlal Bahuguna, a renowned Gandhian, with a
group of volunteers and women started the non-violent protest by
clinging to the trees to save them from felling. This gave a start to the
“Chipko Movement”. The main objective of this movement was to
ensure an ecological balance and the survival of the tribal people
whose economic activities revolved around these forests. His appeal to
Mrs Gandhi resulted in the green-felling ban.
The 5,000-km trans-Himalaya foot march in 1981-1983 was crucial in

spreading the Chipko message. Bahuguna coined the Chipko slogan:
“ecology is permanent economy”. Chandi Prasad Bhatt, one of the
earliest Chipko activists, fostered local industries based on the
conservation and sustainable use of forest wealth for local benefit.
Dhoom Singh Negi, with Bachni Devi and many village women, first
saved trees by hugging them in the “Chipko embrace”.
They coined the slogan:

“what do the forests bear” soil, water, and pure air”. Ghanashyam
Raturi, the Chipko poet, whose songs echo throughout the Himalayas
of Uttar Pradesh and Indu Tikekar, a doctor of philosophy, whose
spiritual discourses throughout India on the ancient Sanskrit scriptures
and on comparative religion have stressed the unity and oneness of
life, put the Chipko Movement in this context and there are other
prominent leaders of the movement.
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 it spread too 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 Alakananda valley to a sports goods company.
This angered the villagers, because their demand to use wood for
making agricultural tools had been denied earlier. 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 men from cutting
them down.
The Uttarakhand region is a highly remote area due to its precipitous

slopes, with thin and fragile soils. The area is highly resourced with
abundant water resources and forests. The people living in this region
are farmers, whose major occupations are terrace cultivation and
animal husbandry. The extensive network of roads, which have been
built after the Indo-Chinese border conflict, made accessibility to this
region easier.
As a result, the Uttarakhand region, which is known for rich minerals,

soils, and forests, attracted many entrepreneurs. Soon the area
became the object of exploitation by these entrepreneurs. Some
products for which the region was exploited were timber, limestone,
magnesium, potassium, etc. The major source of conflicts in this region
was the exploitation of the forests by the entrepreneurs with the
approval of the government.
The other reason for such conflicts was that the villagers were earlier
denied the use of forests. The streamlined policies did not allow the
local agriculturists and herders to cut the trees for fuel wood or for
fodder and for certain other purposes. Instead, they were told that
dead trees and fallen branches would serve their needs. The
agriculturists or herders could cut trees only for the construction of
houses and for making implements. The policies were reframed,
claiming that the overuse and misuse of the forests was causing
deforestation.
Moreover, the timber and charcoal contractors conspired among

themselves and blamed the local people for deforestation. The
villagers, with the help of social workers, established labor and small-
scale-producer co-operatives, which aimed at allowing the local
people to share the benefits of development.
There continued long arguments between the villagers, timber

contractors, social workers, and the personnel of the forest
department. The first spark of the movement started in 1972 at
Gopeshwar in Chamoli district when a local co-operative was not
given permission to cut 12 ash trees for the purpose of building houses
and for tool-making. Instead, the government sold the ash trees to a
sports-goods manufacturing company for the purpose of making bats
and tennis rackets.
The villagers appeal to the government went in vain. In protest, the

villagers adopted a non-violent method and they stuck themselves to
the trees to protect them from being felled. The villagers were
successful in their effort and the government cancelled the permit
given to the sports-goods manufacturing company. Thus, started the
Chipko Movement.
Such other incidents have become successful and the movement soon
spread to other areas. The Chipko activists formed into groups and
campaigned from village to village and informed people about the
purpose and importance of the movement. The movement has been
diversifying its activities. It is now collecting funds to take up research
on the issues of forests, soil, and water conservation.
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, felling in the Western

Ghats and the Vindhyas has been stopped. It has also generated pres-
sure for a natural resource policy that is more sensitive to peoples,
needs and ecological requirements.
Thus, the Chipko Movement is an important environmental movement,

which has gained considerable popularity and success by adopting a
Gandhian non-violent method. The movement paved the way for
many such environmental movements in the country.

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CHIPKO MOVEMENT IN INDIA!

The Chipko Movement was started in the northern Himalayan segment

The 5,000-km trans-Himalaya foot march in 1981-1983 was crucial in

They coined the slogan:

The Uttarakhand region is a highly remote area due to its precipitous

As a result, the Uttarakhand region, which is known for rich minerals,

Moreover, the timber and charcoal contractors conspired among

There continued long arguments between the villagers, timber

The villagers appeal to the government went in vain. In protest, the

The Chipko protests in Uttar Pradesh achieved a major victory in 1980

In addition to the 15 year ban in Uttar Pradesh, felling in the Western

Thus, the Chipko Movement is an important environmental movement,

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