One of India’s best known environmentalists – Sundarlal Bahuguna – who pioneered the Chipko Movement against deforestation in 1970s passed away in Uttarakhand on Friday afternoon. He was 94 years old.
The news of his death was announced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh where he undergoing treatment for COVID-19. AIIMS Rishikesh Director Ravikant said he passed away at 12.05 pm.
Bahuguna had been hospitalised on May 8 after testing positive for COVID-19. Hospital sources say his condition turned critical on Thursday night and his oxygen level dropped drastically. He was undergoing CPAP therapy in AIIMS’ ICU.
Describing his demise as a “monumental loss for the nation”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep condolences and a glowing tribute to the departed soul took to Twitter to say Bahuguna exemplified “our centuries old ethos of living in harmony with nature.”
Passing away of Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna Ji is a monumental loss for our nation. He manifested our centuries old ethos of living in harmony with nature. His simplicity and spirit of compassion will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with his family and many admirers. Om Shanti.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 21, 2021
Offering his condolences, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said Bahuguna was instrumental in turning the Chipko movement into a mass movement.
A Gandhian to the core, Bahuguna transformed the spontaneous Chipko Movement into a watershed movement in India’s forest conservation efforts.
During the 1970s, when reckless felling of trees began affecting people’s lives and livelihoods, villagers in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli began to protest. The turning point arrived when the government, in January 1974, announced auction of 2,500 trees, overlooking the Alakananda river.
When the lumberjacks arrived, a girl raised an alarm and informed heads of the villages. Women came out in large numbers and prevented felling of the trees by hugging them in tight embrace despite imminent threats. Three local women – Gaura Devi, Sudesha Devi, and Bachni Devi – championed the cause. This came to be known as the Chipko Movement where ‘chipko’ signified the hug.
Bahuguna led from the front by giving direction to the Chipko Movement and put out a fervent appeal to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi which paved the way for a 15-year ban on felling of green trees back in 1980.
Bahuguna resorted to Gandhian methods like satyagraha and hunger strikes at a later stage to lodge his protest against erection of the Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand.
Bahuguna is widely known for coining the slogan ‘Ecology is permanent economy’ which catalyzed thousands of Indians to open their arms to nature. Born in 1927 in a small village in Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal district, he joined the freedom struggle at the tender age of 13. He was imprisoned for fighting for India’s independence at 17. Soon after, he joined politics and focused on constructive activities.