Man's Awareness From Chipko Movement..

 Man's awareness on forest conservation first came to lime light in the Himalayan hilly region of Uttar Pradesh since 1972, in the Eco development known as chipko movement..

History of this movement...

The term chipko is a Hindi word means to cling and refers to the technique of clinging to the trees.This was followed by the people of Himalaya mountain regions of Uttar Pradesh to stop the felling of trees in the hilly forests by the contractors.It is a movement that clearly demonstrated that the hilly people were intimately related with the preservation of local forests.

The origin of this movement can be traced back to 1962,when Indian government decided to improve the net work of border roads during the war with China.until 1962 the people from the plains were interested in exploiting the forest wealth of the hilly regions. The hilly people realized that they were being unduly exploited in the own region by the plain people.

The local hilly people gave up their own job and formed a co- operative society of local labourers with the leadership of Mr Chandi Prasad Bhatt at village Gopeswar.By 1969 the people set up an institution known as Dasholi Gram Swaraja Sangha in Dasholi mandal area of Uttar Pradesh. Perhaps the first and foremost agitation against the indiscriminate felling of trees in India was led by Amrita Devi with her 362 follower,who resisted felling of khejori trees in jodhpur area in 1730.

By 1972-73 the society being well established requested the Uttar Pradesh forest department to allot a few ash trees in the area for making agricultural implements.Unfortunately the forest department without informing the society alloted those plants to the Simon company which manufactures sports good.The local people used to meet at the premises of society in the evening hours,to stop the axing of ash trees by Simon company men.As soon as the contractors arrived in that area the society workers rushed to Chandi Prasad Bhatt.There was a mood of description among the workers, which agitated Bhatt suddenly then he started a movement known as chipko movement.

On 24th April 1973 when Simon company workers went to cut the trees,they found that long columns of children, women and men marched ahead of them in a procession by singing songs on the importance of environmental conservation to the beat of the drums.The Simon company officials asked their axe men to withdraw and complained against forest department.The Sangha workers kept a constant vigil in that area.In the mean time,the permit given to Simon company lapsed in December 1973 without cutting a single tree.

Effects of chipko movement...

During 1974 the chipko movement started spreading when the Sangha workers came to know that forest department had auctioned 2450 trees for felling in renai forests 120km away from Gopeshwar,they visited the perticular area and explained the ecological importance of forests to the villagers.still then the forest authority convinced the villagers by giving lands in towns 100 km away on compensation basis.

A group under the leadership of an elderly uneducated woman named Gaura Devi and barred the path to renai forests to protect the trees.The women sang this forest is our mothers home,we will protect it with all our might.For about one month the public demand continued to reverse the decision regarding the auctioning of plants of renal forest.

Forest expert and the chipko leader the committee agreed with the ecological perspective of uneducated chipko workers.In July 1977 the Uttar Pradesh govt banned the feeling of trees in 6 tributaries of Alaknanda river for 10 years.

Due to flood 183 people killed and many villagers all along the course of the course of the river washed away.The local people also realized that the reasons for so called natural tragedy due to cutting of trees.slowly the message of deforestation leading to environmental destruction spread to other places of Uttar Pradesh by chipko workers.

The movement continued under the leadership of Sundarlal bahuguna.He presented the plan of chipko movement for the protection of soil and water through ban as tree felling in the Himalaya at United National environment protection meeting held in London in 1982.This movement declared in 1977 that the main products of the forest are soil,water and oxygen.The woman of Garhwal district created chipko slogan that what do the forest bear?soil,water,and pure air which are the basis of life.

The chipko movement flew from Himalaya to the various parts of the country.It brought a country wide general consciousness about the conservation of forest and trees.The chipko plan infact a slogan of planting five 's',food,fodder,fuel, fertilizer and fiber trees to make communities self sustained in all their basic needs.Just like chipko movement of the north,appiko movement of south is also aimed at conservation of forests.