Chipko Movement started in Rajasthan
Q. The original Chipko Movement started in- Published on 14 Jun 16a. Rajasthan
b. Himachal Pradesh
c. Uttarakhand
d. Uttar Pradesh
ANSWER: Rajasthan
- The Chipko movement or chipko andolan was primarily a forest conservation movement in India that began in 1973 and went on to become a rallying point for many future environmental contrast and movements all over the world.
- The original ’Chipko movement’ was started around 260 years back in the early part of the 18th century in Rajasthan by Bishnoi community.
- A large group of them from 84 villages led by a lady called Amrita Devi laid down their lives in an effort to protect the trees from being felled on the orders of the Maharaja (King) of Jodhpur.
- The Chipko movement of 1973 was one of the most famous among these. The first Chipko action took place spontaneously in April 1973 in the village of Mandal in the upper Alakananda valley and over the next five years spread to many districts of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh.
- Although many of its leaders were men, women were not only its backbone, but also its mainstay, because they were the ones most affected by the rampant deforestation, which led to a lack of firewood and fodder as well as water for drinking and irrigation. Over the years they also became primary stakeholders in a majority of the afforestation work that happened under the Chipko movement.
