ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS ( AECC-2, UNIT 7)

Bishnoi Movement

The Bishnoi Movement started around 400 years ago. This movement was the first of its kind
to have developed the strategy of hugging or embracing the trees for their protection
spontaneously. The sect Bishnoism was founded by Guru Jambheshwar. He had laid down 29
principles to be followed by the sect. Bish means 20 and noi means 9. Thus, Bishnoi
translates as Twenty-nine. Those who follow from their heart of 29 principles will be called
‘BISHNOI’. The Bishnoi is a non-violent community of nature worshippers of in western
India especially in Rajasthan. Guru Jambheshwar or Jambhaji announced a set of 29 tenets,
Of his 29 tenets, ten are directed towards personal hygiene and maintaining good basic
health, nine for healthy social behaviour, four tenets to the worship of God, and six tenets
have been prescribed to preserve bio-diversity and encourage good animal husbandry. Of the
6 tenets that focus on protecting nature, the two most profound ones are: Jeev Daya Palani –
Be compassionate to all living beings. Runkh Lila Nahi Ghave – Do not cut green trees.

In 1730 AD, a small village located 26 km south-east of Jodhpur in Rajasthan witnessed

probably the first and most fierce environment protection movement in the history of the
country. Amrita Devi, a Bishnoi woman of Khejarli village and her three young daughters
laid down their lives to protect the sacred trees ‘Khejri’ (Prosopis cineraria) which the ruler
of Marwar Maharaja Abhay Singh had ordered to be cut down for to burn lime for the
construction of the Maharaja's new palace building his new palace. Amrita Devi decided to
literally hug the trees, and encouraged others to do so. As each villager hugged a tree,
refusing to let go, they were beheaded by the soldiers. This voluntary martyrdom continued
until 363 Bishnoi villagers were killed in order to protect sacred ‘Khejri’ trees. The ‘martyrs’
belonged to Bishnoi community. In 1970s, this sacrifice became the inspiration behind the
Chipko Movement.

Appiko Movement
Appiko Movement is one of the forest protection based environmental movements of
India, often looked at as a continuation of the Chipko Movement. The movement took place
in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka in the Western Ghats. In August 1983, the
villagers of the Sirsi Taluk of Uttara Kannada requested the forest department not to continue
the felling operations in the Bilegal forest under the Hulekal range. The forest department,
however, did not pay attention to to the request of the villagers and the clear felling of the

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natural forests by the contractors continued. The villagers felt the ill effect of this arrogance
on the part of the forest department. There was severe soil erosion and dying up of the
perennial water resources. In the Salkani village of Sirsi Taluk, people were deprived of .the
only patch of forest left near this and surrounding villages to obtain biomass for fuel wood,
fodder, and honey. Moreover, the spice-garden farmers of Uttara Kannada who were
critically dependent on leaf manure from the forests were also badly hit. This situation led the
youth and women of the Salkani village and the surrounding villages to march in to the forest
and launch a Chipko-type movement. The youths and women hugged the trees ('Appiko'
means to 'Hug' in Kannada), and hence, physically prevented the axe-man from felling the
trees pursuing the orders of the forest department. The protestors demanded an' immediate
ban on the felling of green trees. The appiko movement within the forest continued for thirty-
eight days (38) after which the government finally withdrew the felling orders. The success
of this agitation spread to other places and the movement has now been launched in eight
areas covering the entire Sirsi forest division in Uttara Kannada and Shimoga districts. The
activists also extracted an oath from the loggers to the effect that they would not destroy trees
in the forest. However, the felling began again and consequently; the people renewed their
Appiko movement in October 1983. Thus, the second phase of the movement took place in
the deciduous forests of Husri, with approximately one hundred activists participating in the
movement. In November of the same year, the movement reached Nidgod in Siddapan
Taluka with over three hundred men and women participating in it. The Appiko Movement
forced the government to change its forest policy. Some specific changes include ban on clear
felling, no further issuing of concessions to logging companies, and moratorium on felling of
green trees in the tropical rainforest of the Western Ghats.
The Silent Valley Movement
The Silent Valley Movement is one of the most important ecological movements in
India. Silent Valley is the narrow valley of the Kunthipuzha River in the state of Kerala in the
Malabar region at the southern end of the Western Ghats. It has 8950 hectares of rainforest at
an altitude of 3000 feet in Palaghat district of Kerala, is perhaps, the only remaining
undisturbed tropical rainforest in Indian peninsula. This tropical rain forest in Western Ghats
is a precious reservoir of biodiversity where many plant and animal species have survived for
centuries. In 1970 Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) proposed a hydroelectric dam
across the Kunthipuzha River that runs through Silent Valley,that will submerge 8.3 sq km of
untouched moist evergreen forest. In February 1973, the Planning Commission approves the
project. The proposed project would generate around 200 MW of electricity, and form the

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basis for regional economic development. However, the proposed project was not
ecologically viable, as it would drown a chunk of the valuable rainforest of the valley and
threaten the life of a host of endangered species of' both flora and fauna. The Proposal was
seriously criticized by Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) -coming the forefront of the
campaign to save Silent Valley. Some other societies such as Kerala Nature History Society
and NGOs are taking keen interest to save this valley from destruction due to invasions,
construction and other such activities. The central issues of the Silent Valley protests
included the protection of the tropical rainforest, maintenance of the ecological balance, and
an opposition to destructive development. The campaigns and petitions were the main
strategies adopted by the activists in the movement, basing it on the non-violent, Gandhian
ideological orientation. The movement also portrays as to how the coalition was formed of
the people belonging to different professions came together to fight against the project. It has
also enmeshed several themes within it such as of the protest against the destruction of forest,
an opposition to ecologically unsustainable development, and above all, maintenance of the
ecological balance. In April 1976 National Council on Environmental Planning & Co-
ordination studied the feasibility of the project The National Committee on Environmental
Planning & Co-ordination (NCEPC) suggested 17 safeguards in implementing the project. In
1978 the project was approved on a condition that the State Government should endorse a
strict legislation for ensuring the above said safeguards. In 1979, the Government of Kerala
enacted the Silent Valley Protected Area (Protection of Ecological Balance) Act. In the same
year M.S. Swaminathan (the then Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Government
of India) visited the area and submitted a report opposing the project. Based on this report,
the Prime Minister of India requested the State Government to stop further work on the
project in 1980. A joint committee was set up under the Chairmanship of M.G.K. Menon to
examine the practicability of implementing the project without significant ecological damage.
They have carried out thorough investigation on various aspects such as ecology, biodiversity
and impact of the project and submitted the report. It was found that the project would pose
serious threat on the overall integrity of the Silent Valley and on 15th November 1984,
Government of Kerala decided to abandon the project and declared Silent Valley as a
National Park. The Silent Valley National Park was inaugurated on 7th September 1985 by
Sri. Rajiv Gandhi, the then prime minister of India. This ecologically fragile area storing rich
stock of biodiversity has been declared as biosphere reserve and now is under category of Hot
Spot.

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Chipko Movement
Chipko Movement started in April, 24 1973 at Mandal of Chamoli district of Gharwal
division of Uttar Pradesh. The Organiser of the movement had a belief on the ideology of
non-violence as propagated by Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. The movement was
raised out of ecological destabilization in the hills. The fall in the productivity in forest
produces forced the hill dwellers to depend on the market which became a central concern for
the inhabitants. The continuous natural distress like flood, and landslide due to Alakananda
(1970) river and other catashophes like Tawaghat tragedy (1977) and Bhagirathi blockade
(1978) Branch Rivers of river Ganga caused massive flood in the Gangetic plains. The origin
of ‘Chipko’ [chipak jayenge - to hug] took place during 1973. In the early 1973 the forest
department refused to allot ash trees to the Dashauli Gram Swarajya Sangha (DGSS), a local
cooperative organisation based in Chamoli districts, for making agricultural implements. On
the other hand, the forest department allotted ash trees to a private company, i.e., Symonds
Co. This incident provoked the DGSS to fight against this injustice through lying down in
front of timber trucks and burning resin and timber depots. When these methods were found
unsatisfactory, Chandi Prasad Bhat - one of the leaders, suggested of embracing the trees and
thus ‘Chipko’ was born. This form of protest was instrumental in driving away the private
company from felling the ash trees. With its success the movement spread to other
neighbouring areas and subsequently the movement came to be popularly known as Chipko
movement internationally. From its beginning the Chipko movement concentrated on
ecological issues such as depletion of forest cover and soil erosion. Major demands of the
Chipko movement were not merely to protect timber, fuel, fodder and small slumber but the
preservation of soil and water. Public meetings were held in the region and the felling of trees
by the Company was postponed. In 1974 Sunderlal Bahuguna visited the entire region taking
the Chipko message from village to village. In subsequent period the local people did not
allow any one from cutting trees even for home industries. The Chipko movement has been
successful in forcing a fifteen year ban on commercial green felling in the hills of Uttar
Pradesh and generated pressure for a national forest policy that is ecologically more sensitive.
Women were very active and came out of their homes to take lead in the Chipko movement.
Chipko still survives and the philosophies of the movement has spread beyond Uttarakhand
hills and linked to social activists, humanitarian scientists and people in need in Jammu &
Kashmir, Rajsthan, Himachal Pradesh and West Medinipur district of West Bengal, while in
Karnataka Chipko has reformulated as Appiko movement.

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Narmada Banchao Andolan
Narmada is one of the major rivers of Indian Peninsula. The Narmada basin covers 94,500 sq.
kilometres between the Bindhya and Satpura ranges in Central India. The 1300 kilometres
long Narmada valley contains large alluvial plains in Madhya Pradesh. The Narmada River
Development Project involves the construction of 30 large Dams and many small ones on the
river and its 51 main tributaries. The project basically aims to increase food production and
hydropower generations in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Sardar Sarovar
Project which is an interstate multi-purpose project with a terminal major dam in Gujarat is
being built on river Narmada which is the fifth largest river in India– 1312 km long. The
Narmada Valley Project, with its two mega projects- Sardar Sarovar Project and Narmada
Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh ,is the largest single river valley project with the objective
of making the world’s largest man–made lake. The reservoir will submerge 37,000 hectares
of land of which 11,000 hectares are classified as forest. It will displace about one lakh
persons of 248 villages- 19 of Gujarat, 36 of Maharashtra and 193 of Madhya Pradesh.
Questions arose concerning the promises about resettlement and rehabilitation programme set
up by the Government. As a consequence, each state had a people’s organisation which
addressed these concerns. Soon, these groups came together to form the Narmada Bachao
Andolan (NBA), or, the Save the Narmada Movement under the leadership Medha Patekar, a
social activist. In 1988, the NBA demanded formally the stoppage all work on the Narmada
Valley Development Projects. In September 1989, more than 50,000 people gathered in the
valley from all over India to pledge to fight “destructive development.” Under intense
pressure, the World Bank was forced to create an independent review committee, the Morse
Commission. It published its report the Morse Report in 1992. The withdrawal of World
Bank funding was a moral victory for the movement. By linking the problems of
environmental changes and degradation of the Valley with issues of economic equity and
social justice, the movement forced the bank to withdraw from the project. The NBA is
unique in the sense that it underlined the importance of people’s right to in formation which
the authorities finally had to concede under media and popular pressure. It was successful not
only in mobilising hundreds of thousands people from different walks of life to put pressure
on the State government for its anti-people policies ,affecting and displacing lakhs of tribals
from their homes and livelihoods. It also received immense international support. Resorting
to non–violent mode of protest and following Gandhian vision of constructive work, NBA, as
its popularly known is distinctive landmark in the history of environmentalism in India.

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However, in the face of recalcitrant attitude of the governments, the NBA continues with the
involvement of effected people and civil society organisations.
Tehri Dam Movement
The Tehri Dam, is built on the Bhagirathi River in Garhwal, Uttaranchal. The Tehri Dam,
partly funded by Russia, is a major hydroelectric project that was conceived long back in
1949 by the Geological Survey of India. However, it was only in 1963 that detailed
investigations to this end were made. After the visit of the then Minister for Power and
Irrigation Shri K. L. Rao, in 1965, the site was finally confirmed. By 1967, several experts
both at home and abroad visited the site and recorded their opinions. The construction of the
Tehri Dam is opposed on the ground of seismic data projecting earthquake disaster and
displacement of the people of old Tehri town and the neighbouring village. The anti-Tehri
Dam movement is spearheaded by Tehri Baandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti (TBVSS)
founded by the prominent leaders like V. D. Saklani, Sunderlal Bahuguna and other leaders
active in the movement. The TBVSS conducted mass protests and Satyagraha involving
people from all groups, age and communities. The Working Group, constituted by the
government for conducting an assessment of the Environmental Impact of Tehri Dam,
recommended a continuous monitoring of the faults at the numerous locations of the dam
site, continuous seismic monitoring to take appropriate control measures and contemplated
the preparation of a detailed geomorphological map of the catchment area. Tehri Dam has
been opposed consistently and invoked protests by the environmental organisations and local
people. Further, it involves the relocation of more than 100,000 people from the region; it has
led to continuous legal battles, law suits and civil protests regarding the resettlement issues.
The Tehri issue did receive support from a wide range of civil society and other organisations
Through relentless efforts, it brought the issue to the fore at the national and international
levels that led to heated and compelled debates regarding the safety of the large dam projects
all over the world. The movement still continues