Page 6 - Jan-Mar 2017

Plant and
care for
TREES TRIUMPH trees !

Saving the forests of Garhwal by hugging trees to fighting a big dam
construction by living in submerged waters, these movements have redefined
the greening of India
Sparsh Agarwal, IX, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Public School, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad

SOuND OF NatuRE: Silent valley Movement NuRtuRE NatuRE: Bishnoi Movement
The forest valley in the Palghat district of Kerala is known The bishnois are considered as the first environmenta-
as the ‘silent Valley’. in 1973, save silent Valley movement lists of india. amrita Devi with her small group laid
was started against a hydro-electric project on the down her life in an effort to protect the trees from being
Kunthipuzha river. Kerala sasthra sahitya Parishad (KssP) felled on the orders of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. after
launched a mass signature campaign. in 1980, the Kerala this incident, the Maharaja issued a decree preventing
government scrapped the project. in 1986 the silent the cutting of trees in all bishnoi villages.
Valley National Park was assigned as the core area of the
Nilgiri biosphere reserve. The bishnois are one of the first organised proponents
Nischal Soni, Suditi Global Academy, Etawah and Kiruthika S., X, Bhartiya of eco-conservation, wildlife protection, and green
Vidya Bhavan’s Public School, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad living. Their religion strictly bans the felling of trees.
even today, the bishnois continue to protect the trees.
K. Sankai, VIII, Sri Sankara Secondary School, Chennai
SticKiNG tO a cauSE: chipko Movement
The Chipko Movement (1970s) started by sunderlal appiko Movement
bahuguna, was a non–violent movement aimed at the appiko meaning ‘hugging’ in Kannada was a movement
protection and conservation of trees and forests in the inspired from the Chipko Movement in uttarakhand. in
Chamoli district of garhwal. The villagers hugged trees, 1983, men, women and children hugged the trees in
and prevented the contractors’ from felling them. later it the Kalase forest, trying to save the western ghats in
spread across the states of uttar Pradesh. it was a success southwest india.
in 1980 with a 15-year ban on felling of trees. Akanksha Dixit, X-A, Suditi Global Academy, Etawah
Ziya Singh, VIII-A, Convent of Jesus and Mary, Ambala Cantt and Ankit
Bhatia, VIII- D , Bhavan’s S.L. Public Senior Secondary School, Amritsar; MERi BEti, MERa vRiKSHa
Rahul Kumar, X-A, Vishva Bharti Public School, Jaghadri, Haryana
Villagers in the Piplantri village in southern rajasthan’s
rajsamand district plant 111 trees for every girl
REScuE MiSSiON: Jungle Bachao andolan child born in the village. Over the last six years they
have planted over
The Jungle bachao andolan took shape in the 1980s a quarter million
when the government proposed to replace the natural
sal forest of singhbhum District in bihar, with high valued trees on the village’s
grazing grounds.
commercial teak plantations. having started in bihar, the
movement spread to
other states like Orissa
and Jharkhand too. FORESt MaN OF iNDia
Saheefa Mustufa, VIII G1, Jadav Payeng has created
Greenwood Senior Secondary
School, Rampur and Prabanja K, 1,360 acres of dense forest
VIIIA, Vidya Vikas Matric Higher singlehandedly known as the
Secondary School, Pudukkottai
Molai Forest in assam over a
period of 35 years. he started at
the age of 16 !
My tREE WaRRiOR Samiya B. VI, Delhi Public School,
write about a tree warrior in your region and send us Sec 45, Gurgaon; Freya, VII, Delhi School of
Excellence, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad
your entry.

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