Environmental Movements In India

• The environmental movement in India is defined as the social or political movements aimed at protecting the environment or improving environmental conditions. The terms "green movement in India" or "conservative movements" are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. Another alternative term used for the environmental movements in India is green politics in India. The green policy or green movement or environmental movement can be defined as a social movement that protects the environment or improves national policies that are especially inclined towards the environment

• In other words, the environmental movement is conducive to the sustainable management of natural resources. These movements usually emphasize the protection of the environment through changes in public policies. Many green movements focus on ecology, health and human rights. The environmental movement ranges from highly organized and formalized to extremely informal activities. The spatial scope of various environmental movements ranges from local to nearly global.

• Here in the article, we will briefly present the history of the environmental movement in India, which will enhance readers' understanding of how mass movements rescued violence against the environment. The article also focuses on the list of environmental movements. The major environmental movements in India like the Bishnoi Movement, Silent Valley Movement, Appiko Movement and many other prominent examples of the environmental movements in India are discussed.

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List of Environmental Movements in India

The list of the major green movements in India is mentioned below, the list includes the names of such movements from the period 1700 to 2000. These events are important to study as they influenced the policy-making of the country and created awareness related to the ecological condition of the nation.

• Bishnoi Movement

• Chipko Movement

• Appiko Movement

• Silent Valley Movement

• Jungle Bachao Andolan

• Narmada Bachao Movement

• Tehri Dam Conflict

• Save the soil movement in India

Bishnoi Movement

Bishnoi Movement is among the important green movements in India. Bishnoi is a religious sect found in the Thar Desert in the west and the states of northern India. It was founded by Guru Maharaj Jambaji in 1485 AD in the Marwar (Jodhpur) desert area of the western Rajasthan, India. This is a non-violent community of nature worshippers. This movement was initiated by the saint Sombaji around 1700 AD to oppose deforestation. Later, Amrita Devi promoted the cause. All 363 people from the Bishnoi community were killed in the protest. When the king of this area heard of the protests and massacres, he rushed to the people, apologized and declared the area a protected area that cutting trees for logging or hunting animals are strictly prohibited. It is worth noting that this legislation still exists today.

Chipko Movement

• The Chipko Movement is also a major ecological movement in India, It was launched in 1973 from Gopeshwar in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The campaign aims to prevent illegal logging in the Himalayas (Uttarakhand). Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt are the leaders of this movement. The most notable feature of this movement is the participation of women.

• The women in Tehri-Garhwal village tie the sacred thread to the trunk and hug the trees, which is why it is called the "Chipko Movement" or the "Hugging the Trees Movement".

• In this protest, the main demand of the people is to attribute the benefits of the forest (especially the right to fodder obtained from forest) to the locals. In 1978, the Chipko movement gained momentum. Mr Bahuguna inspired villagers by communicating the importance of trees in the environment, which can prevent soil erosion, rain, and provide clean air.

• The then Chief Minister of the State, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, set up a committee to investigate the matter and finally made a ruling in favour of the villagers. This became a turning point in the history of the struggle for ecological development in the region and even the world.

Appiko Movement

• The Appiko Movement is an example of the most prominent environmental movement in India, especially in south India. In 1983, following the route of the Chipko movement, Pandurang Hegde launched a movement called Appiko Movement in Karnataka. Its main goal is to plant trees and reforest, and to develop, protect and appropriately use forests in the best way. The term "Appiko" means to express love for a tree by hugging it.

• The Appiko movement used various techniques to raise awareness, such as walks in the inner forest, slide shows, folk dancing, street performances, etc. The second area of ​​work of the movement was the promotion of afforestation on vacant lands.

• Subsequently, the movement focused on reducing pressure on forests by introducing alternative energy sources to make rational use of the ecosystem. The move was a success. The current state of the project is stopped.

Silent Valley Movement

• Silent Valley is an evergreen tropical forest area of ​​Kerala. The valley is located in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India. Its biodiversity is very rich. The Kerala State Electricity Commission (KSEB) had proposed the construction of a hydroelectric dam along the Kuntipuzha River through the Silent Valley. In February 1973, the Planning Committee approved a project costing approximately Rs 25 million. 

• Many people worry that the project will flood 8.3 square kilometres of intact humid evergreen forest. Some NGOs strongly opposed the project and urged the government to abandon the project. Environmentalists and local people strongly opposed the hydropower project built here in 1973. In January 1981, Indira Gandhi succumbed to ruthless public pressure and declared that Silent Valley would be protected.

• In June 1983, the centre re-examined this issue through a committee chaired by Professor M.G.K. Menon. In November 1983, the Silent Valley Hydroelectric Project was cancelled. In 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi officially opened Silent Valle National Park. This ecological movement in India served as a prime example of amendments in the policy-making of the country.

Jungle Bachao Andolan

The Jungle Bachao Andolan was initiated in 1982. The environmental movement in India started because the tribal communities in the Singhbhum district of Jharkhand (the former Indian district under British rule, part of the Chotanagpur branch of the Bengal presidency) opposed the government's forest policy. The main goal of the movement was to start and demonstrate protest against the replacement of the native Sal tree forest with the teak tree for increased commercialization. Many environmentalists refer to this movement as the "political populism of a greedy game."

Narmada Bachao Movement

• The Narmada Bachao Movement is the green movement in India that primarily focused on conserving natural water resources. This movement specifically was demonstrated to oppose the construction of dams near the river. Since 1985, environmentalists and local residents have protested against the construction of a dam in Narmada to produce hydroelectric power. Medha Patkar has always been the leader of this mandolin and gained the support of Arundhati Roy, Baba Amte and Aamir Khan.

• The movement was originally intended to protest the failure to provide adequate rehabilitation and resettlement for people displaced by the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Subsequently, the focus of the campaign was to protect the environment and ecosystem of the valley. Activists also demanded that the height of the dam be reduced from the recommended 130 m to 88 m. The World Bank withdrew from the project.

• Environmental issues were brought to court. In October 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam was approved under the condition that the height of the dam can be increased to 90 m. This height is much higher than the 88m required by anti-dam activists but definitely lower than the recommended height of 130m. The project is now mainly funded by the state government and market loans. The project is expected to be fully completed in 2025.

Tehri Dam Conflict

• The Tehri dam is built on the embankment of the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand. This movement was started by local residents around the 1980s and 1990s, because the dam was to be built in an earthquake-sensitive area, and it was hypothesized that it would cause the forest area to collapse together with the city of Dehri.

• Despite the support of other famous leaders such as Sunderlal Bahuguna, the movement failed to gain sufficient popular support domestically and internationally. Despite the protests, the construction of the dam was carried out under the protection of the police. After obtaining the government's guarantee for the project review, Bahuguna ended the fast, but construction continued, albeit at a slower pace.

Save the soil movement in India

The Save the soil movement in India was started in the year 1977. The movement started in Hoshangabad in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The main cause of the movement was the protest against waterlogging and salinity of the soil of that area caused by the construction of the Tawa Dam, the movement was also focused to earn compensation to the local farmers for the land destroyed by the dam.In conclusion of the article, it can be said that many grassroots environmental protection campaigns have launched development activities that oppose the destruction of the ecological balance and have changed public policies more inclined to the environment.