Question

"Chipko movement" by Sunderlal Bahuguna was started in
A)1965
B)1973
C)1983
D)1947

Answer 1

Chipko movement was a movement started as a forest conservation movement in India. It started in the foothills of Himalayas and spread all over the India and world. This movement was a non-violent resistance movement in which the trees were hugged in order to protect them from being cut down.

Complete answer:
“Chipko” means to hug. The Chipko movement began in Uttarakhand under the leadership of Sundarlal Bahuguna a social activist and an environmentalist in order to protect the trees from felling. During that time, the massive deforestation was taking place in order to construct roads, dams and factories. In March, 1973 the women of Reni village of Uttarakhand under the leadership of Sundarlal Bahuguna, acted to prevent the cutting of the trees so as to save their homes and means of livelihood. This movement was started to safeguard their forest rights which were violated by the contractors and state forest department.

This movement soon became rampant in the rest of India and consequently the world. It was one of the strongest movements for forest protection and conservation which was ruled by Gandhian principles of non-violence and satyagraha.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B)

Note: This movement raised several issues of ecological and economic exploitation. The villagers demanded for no approval of any kind of forest- exploiting contracts which affected natural resources like land, water, forests. The movement demanded development of the economic activities without affecting the ecological balance. The major achievement of this movement was the cutting of trees was banned in the foothills of Himalayas by the state and central government.