Question

What happened when the Chipko movement spread across communities and media?

Answer 1

Hint: The Chipko movement, also known as the Chipko Andolan, was an Indian forest conservation campaign. It began in 1973 in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh, and has since been a focal point for many subsequent environmental campaigns around the world. It established a precedent in India for nonviolent protest. Sunderlal Bahuguna, a Gandhian activist, was the one who gave the campaign its right direction.

Complete answer:
The Chipko movement began in 1974 in a small village called Reni, where a group of women led by Gaura Devi protested indiscriminate tree removal by hugging them. Under the leadership of Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna of Silyara in the Tehri region, the Chipko movement slowly extended to neighbouring areas. The Chipko movement involves individuals forming a circle around a tree and hugging it to prevent it from being felled. The inhabitants of the Tehri-Garhwal district of Uttar Pradesh recognised the value of forests and protested against tree chopping and the sale of forest goods to other places. It aided in the preservation of trees, which in turn resulted in the conservation of soil and water resources, allowing nature to keep its balance.

The battle quickly expanded throughout the region, with hill women exhibiting their newfound strength as nonviolent activists in a number of impromptu stand-offs between the local community and timber merchants. The Chipko movement was given to their actions as the movement took shape under the leadership of its leaders. The movement extended to numerous districts in the region during the next five years, and within a decade, it had swept throughout the Uttarakhand Himalayas.

Note: The first time was when the Forest Department rejected the Sangh's annual request for ten ash trees for its farm equipment workshop, instead of awarding a contract for 300 trees to Simon Company, a tennis racquet manufacturer in Allahabad.