Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #chipko
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“I stopped eating rice the day I learnt how much water it takes to harvest a kilogram of paddy.” Sunderlal Bahuguna thus spoke of #carbonfootprint decades before we even started using the term. He could see a looming #climatecrisis like no one else of his time did. 1/4 
Bahuguna was one of India’s early environmentalists. He walked 4,700 km from #Kashmir in the North to Kohima in the North-East to draw attention to the destruction of his Himalayan homeland by mega development projects. 2/4
He joined the #Chipko (tree-hugging) movement in the 1970s, started by women in #Uttarakhand to save the hills from loggers. Bahuguna drove the movement forward, till it spread to other parts of #India, including the south. 3/4
On this day in 1974 brave women started hugging trees & saving from felling. Gaura Devi with 27 other women of Reni village led #Chipko movement. The news of resistance spread like wildfire to nearby villages and more people joined in. A watershed moment in independent #India.
The original chipko movement was from September 1730. When king of Jodhpur sent teams to fell Khejri trees. Soon summons to a meeting were sent to 83 Bishnoi villages. The cry was “सिर साटे रुख रहे तो भी सस्तो जाण”. With this 363 bishnoi martyred to save trees led by Amrita Devi.
To commemorate the day of this 'bishnoi massacre' India observe this day as 'Forest Martyrs Day'.
The modern movement was spread in years & is considered as eco-feminist movement, led by women. And a movement for ownership of resources based on gandhian principles.
The modern movement was spread in years & is considered as eco-feminist movement, led by women. And a movement for ownership of resources based on gandhian principles.
