Chipko Movement: Know All About The Movement Which Started in 1974 With Women of Reni Village Hugging Trees

On this day in 1974, Gauri Devi and 27 other women of Uttarakhand's Reni village (that time part of Uttar Pradesh) led the Chipko Movement. As the news spread to nearby villages, more people joined. The Chipko movement was a non-violent agitation, which was aimed to protect trees from being mercilessly destroyed by forest contractors. However, it was Sunderlal Bahuguna who gave direction to the movement.

Bahuguna is a renowned Garhwali environmentalist and Mahatma Gandhi's follower. He gave the slogan, "Ecology is the permanent economy." The idea of the Chipko Movement was seeded by his wife and was put into action by Bahuguna himself. He used Satyagraha tactics to reach his goals. Both male and female activists, including Gaura Devi, Suraksha Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi and Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Virushka Devi and others, participated in the movement. Chipko Movement: Know About Amrita Devi, The First Activist & Sunderlal Bahuguna,The Modern Day Chipko Andolan Architect.

Chipko Movement:

In the early 1970s, villagers of the hilly region of Uttar Pradesh (Now part of Uttarakhand) started to raise their concerns against the policies of the forest department as it was giving a contract to big contractors usually from the plains. These contractors using bring with them skilled labourers giving only menial jobs to locals. In addition to this, due to the influx of people from other regions, ecological balance of the area was in danger.  Notably, the area witnessed floods in the 1970s due to deforestation activities.

The flashpoint began when the government announced an auction scheduled in January 1974 for 2,500 trees near Reni village, overlooking the Alaknanda River. Villagers, on the direction of Bisht, protested against the actions of the government by hugging the trees. On March 24, 1974, started cutting trees as the men of Reni village and DGSS workers were in Chamoli. A local girl informed Gaura Devi, the head of the village Mahila Mangal Dal, at Reni village about the incident.

Gaura Devi led 27 of the village women to the site and confronted the loggers. The loggers started to shout and abuse the women and even threatened them with guns. The women then resorted to hugging the trees to stop them from being felled. They kept an all-night vigil guarding their trees. The next day ness of the movement spread to nearby villages, and more people joined in. The contractors left after a four-day confrontation.

A committee was set up by the then Chief Minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna to look into the matter, which ruled in favour of villagers. It became a turning point in the history of eco-development struggles in the region and around the world.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2021 10:16 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).