NEW DELHI, May 21: Well-known environmentalist and Gandhian Sunderlal Bahuguna, who was known for his “chipko” movement to save trees from being cut for the construction of big dams in the Himalayan region, passed away at the AIIMS in Rishikesh on Friday. He was 94. He was reported to have died from the COVID-related complications.
The “Padma Vibhushan” awardee Bahuguna was admitted to the hospital on May 8 after testing positive for Covid. He had been critical since last night with his oxygen level dropping drastically. He was on CPAP therapy in the ICU of the premier hospital, doctors said.
A pioneer in environmental protection, Bahuguna led the charge against the construction of big dams in the Himalayas in the 1980s. He was fervently opposed to the construction of the Tehri dam.
Bahuguna, who lived for decades in his Silyara ashram in Tehri Garhwal, inspired many young people in his passion for the environment. His ashram was open to young people, with whom he communicated with ease.
Bahuguna has written many articles and books about the problems of deforestation for many years – drawing a link between the lack of tree cover and the drying up of springs in the Himalayas.
He, along with local women, founded the Chipko movement in the Seventies to prevent the felling of trees in the ecologically sensitive zones. The movement’s success led to enactment of a law to ban the felling of trees in ecologically sensitive forest lands. He also coined the Chipko slogan: ‘ecology is permanent economy’.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat condoled his death in a tweet, saying that his departure was a loss to the environmental world.
Expressing grief on the death of Bahuguna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was a “monumental loss for our nation, and he manifested our centuries-old ethos of living in harmony with nature.”
President Ram Nath Kovind too condoled his death. “The demise of Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna marks the end of a glorious chapter in the field of conservation. A ‘Padma Vibhushan’ awardee, he was a Gandhian to the core. A legend in his own right, he made conservation a people’s movement. My condolences to his family and admirers,” Kovind tweeted.
(Manas Dasgupta)