Unit 5: Environmental Movements in Independent India
1. Chipko Movement
When & Where: 1970s, in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh).
What it was: A non-violent, grassroots social movement to protect forests.
Method: The name Chipko means "to hug" or "to stick to." Villagers, primarily women, would physically hug the trees to prevent them from being cut down by commercial logging companies.
Key Leaders: Sunderlal Bahuguna, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, and Gaura Devi.
Why it happened: It was a conflict over resources. The state government had given logging contracts to outside companies, while denying local villagers their traditional rights to the same forest for fuel and fodder. The villagers also knew that logging caused devastating landslides and floods.
Significance:
It was a powerful eco-feminist movement, as women were the main participants and leaders.
It highlighted the conflict between the subsistence economy (local needs) and the commercial economy (state profit).
It was highly successful, leading to a 15-year ban on commercial logging in the region.
2. Narmada Bachao Movement (NBA)
When & Where: 1985–present, along the Narmada River in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
What it was: A major social movement protesting the construction of a series of large dams on the Narmada River, especially the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
Key Leaders:Medha Patkar, Baba Amte.
The Core Issue (Displacement): The central conflict was over displacement and rehabilitation. The dams would submerge hundreds of villages and vast tracts of fertile farmland and forests, displacing millions of people (mostly tribal communities and poor farmers).
Arguments of the NBA:
Inadequate Rehabilitation: The government's resettlement and compensation plans were completely inadequate.
Environmental Impact: The movement questioned the massive environmental destruction (loss of forests and farmland) for the project.
Questioning "Development": The NBA challenged the entire "development-at-all-costs" model, asking "Who benefits, and who pays the price?"
Significance: It became a major national and international debate about the human and environmental costs of large-scale "development" projects.
3. Silent Valley Movement
When & Where: Late 1970s – early 1980s, in the Palakkad district of Kerala.
What it was: A movement to *prevent* the construction of a hydroelectric dam across the Kunthipuzha River.
Why it happened: The dam would have flooded the Silent Valley, a pristine, untouched, and unique tropical evergreen forest.
Significance:
This was one of India's first major environmental movements focused purely on biodiversity and conservation (as opposed to livelihood, like Chipko).
The valley was a "hotspot" of rare biodiversity, home to the endangered lion-tailed macaque, which became the symbol of the movement.
It brought together scientists, activists, writers, and the general public.
Result: The movement was highly successful. The pressure forced Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to scrap the project. In 1984, the area was declared the Silent Valley National Park.
4. Bishnoi Movement
Important Distinction: This is a historical movement from pre-colonial India, not independent India. It is included in the syllabus as the historical inspiration for modern movements like Chipko.
Who: The Bishnoi community, a religious sect in the Marwar (Jodhpur) region of Rajasthan.
Founder: Guru Jambheshwar (15th century).
Core Beliefs: The Bishnois follow 29 (Bis=20, noi=9) principles, many of which are explicitly environmental. They preach strict non-violence and the protection of all life.
They are vegetarians and passionately protect two specific species: the Khejri tree (vital for the desert ecosystem) and the Blackbuck antelope.
The Khejarli Massacre (1730): This is their most famous historical act.
The Maharaja of Jodhpur sent his men to cut Khejri trees to build a new palace.
A Bishnoi woman, Amrita Devi, hugged a tree to protect it and was killed by the soldiers.
She was followed by her three daughters and 363 other Bishnois (men, women, and children) who were all massacred while trying to protect the trees.
Significance: This event from 1730 is considered the "original Chipko Movement" and serves as a powerful historical example of environmental sacrifice and grassroots conservation in India.
5. Afforestation in Northeast India by Jadav Molai Payeng
This is not a "movement" but a case study of powerful Example of individual action and afforestation.
Who:Jadav "Molai" Payeng, a member of the Mishing tribe from Majuli Island, Assam.
Title: He is known as the "Forest Man of India."
What he did: He single-handedly planted and nurtured an entire forest over 40 years.
The Story:
In 1979, as a teenager, he found a large number of snakes that had died on a barren, flood-eroded sandbar of the Brahmaputra River due to a lack of tree cover and extreme heat.
He was deeply affected and began planting bamboo. He then moved on to planting other trees, working alone every day.
The Result (The "Molai Forest"):
Today, that barren sandbar is a dense, 550-hectare (1,360-acre) forest.
This man-made forest is now a complete ecosystem and is home to rhinos, Bengal tigers, deer, vultures, and a large herd of wild elephants that migrates there annually.
Significance: Payeng's story is a powerful testament to the impact one dedicated individual can have on reversing environmental degradation and rebuilding an entire ecosystem through sustained afforestation.