Sundarlal Bahuguna: The Indian Environmentalist will be remembered Forever

The whole is the world is fighting with the Covid-19 Pandemic. This pandemic has become the reason that millions of people have lost their lives, in this list, one more name has been added that is Sundarlal Bahuguna, the famous environmentalist who started the CHIPKO MOVEMENT to save trees and fought for the environment in the Himalayan Region. Sundarlal Bahuguna is famous for india eco activist and great leader of Chipko Movement. Let’s take a walk through the life’s journey of this great man who will be always remembered –

Sundarlal Bahuguna’s Life Journey:

Sunderlal Bahuguna was born on 9 January 1927 in Maroda village of Tehri, Uttarakhand, no one would have thought at the time that this boy would bring revolution to save the trees and the Himalayas and become a true hero. He completed his B.A. from Lahore and Post-Graduation degree from Varanasi. He left his studies in-between to join Indian Freedom Fighting Movement, during this period he got inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and his ideology. From his youth day, he was attracted to non-violence principles of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his ideology so before marrying Vimla, he put a condition before her that they will live in a rural area and will build an ashram there. In his youth days actively fought against untouchability in society. He also fought initiated anti-liquor drive with the help of the hill women. He covered more than 4500 KM on his feet to check what damage various mega development project is causing to the Himalayan forests, hills and people who lives there. He started Chipko Movement on March 26^th 1974, this movement was initiated to save the forests and trees from cutting. He struggled for many years to save the trees and marched from 5,000 KM village to village in the Trans-Himalayan region. Finally, in 1980, the hard work of the Chipko movement brought colour and the cutting of green trees was banned for 15 years. He also did satyagraha and protests against the making of Tehri Dam for a long time. Sundarlal Bahuguna was hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19 on May 8^th 2021 and he died on May 21^st 2021. He died at the age of 94 years due to Covid-19 spread by Coronavirus.

Sundarlal Bahuguna’s Chipko Movement or Chipko Andolan:

Chipko Movement or Chipko Andolan was started on March 26th 1974 in the leadership of Sundarlal Bahuguna. It was a suddenly initiated movement to save the trees of the forest from the cutting by the greedy forest contractors. Chipko is a Hindi word, in English, it means “Hug”. As this movement name describes the movement itself people started hugging the trees when contractors were about to cut the trees. During this movement Sundarlal Bahuguna gave a slogan to Chipko Movement was “Ecology is permanent economy”. After travelling from village to village in the trans-Himalayan region of about 5000 km in two years, he had gathered immense support for the movement, which resulted in a meeting with the then Indian Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi. After this meeting, 15 years of the ban was imposed on the cutting of green trees in 1980. Karnataka's Appiko movement was inspired by The Chipko Movement. Appiko is a Kannada word in English, it means “To Hug”. This movement was started on September 8^th, 1983 by environmental activist Pandurang Hegde.

Sundarlal Bahuguna’s Anti-Tehri Dam Protest:

Sundarlal Bahuguna protested for many years against making the Tehri Dam. He used to do hunger strikes at the banks of Bhagirathi as a symbol of his protest. He always used the Satyagraha method to protest. In the year 1995, he did 45 days long fast. He broke this fast after getting assurance from then Indian Prime Minister Mr P.V. Narsimha Rao. He was assured that a review committee will be established to review the ecological impacts of the dam. But the Tehri Dam project was not Abandoned, so he went on one more hunger strike this time it was for 74 days at Raj Ghat. Tehri Dam’s work again started in 2001. He was arrested in April 2001. Water started to fill in the dam in 2004. After this Sundarlal Bahuguna and his wife shifted to Dehradun.

Sundarlal Bahuguna - Awards :

Right Livelihood Award in 1987.

Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1986.

Honorary Degree of Doctor by IIT Roorkee in Social Science in 1989.

Padma Vibhushan Award: 2009