Write a brief note on Chipko Movement.

 Chipko movement that took place in the 1970s in Uttarakhand (which was then part of Uttar Pradesh) is generally considered as the first example of modern environmentalism and environmental movements in India. 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 district, for making agricultural implements. But the forest department allotted ash trees to a private company, i.e., Symonds Co. This incident provoked the DGSS to fight against this move of the forest department by lying down in front of timber trucks and burning resin and timber depots. When the method of protest was found unsatisfactory, Chandi Prasad Bhat - one of the leaders, suggested of embracing the trees and thus ‘Chipko’ was born. The movement came to be popularly known as Chipko movement internationally. The principal demands of Chipko movements were: complete stoppage of cutting trees for commercial purposes; the traditional rights should be recognised on the basis of minimum needs of the people; making the arid forest green by increasing people’s participation in tree cultivation; formation of village committees to manage forests; development of the forest related home-based industries and making available the raw materials, money and technique for it; and giving priority to afforestation in the light of local conditions, requirements and varieties. 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. The Chipko movement saw the involvement of women in the contribution to households’ subsistence and the overwhelming support to anti-alcohol campaign have led to the overwhelming support of women which is unique to the Chipko movement. Simplicity, sincerity and charisma of the leaders like Sunderlal Bahuguna were effective in mobilising people in the Chipko movement.

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