soldiers with weapons attacked us and it was for the first time I went to prison. I was only twenty six years old. I still remember while in prison, I had a tumour in my throat. A civil doctor was called and he said “Yeh to ab Mar Jayega”, which was very painful. Then after a few days I was sent to the hospital where I was cured of my tumour by an operation. Then Sumanji with his army held a strike for me and I got a bail after five months. Then we even started the “Sharab Band Aandolan” in which many ladies also took part against alcohol and eventually, we succeeded only in five days. Q. Can you please throw some light on the ‘Chipko Movement’ which you started in 1970s? A. From the time of Britishers, the forests were cleared off. At the age of thirteen I joined the army for the freedom of India. There was no one to restrict them because everyone was scared of them. In the year 1970, the river Alaknanda was flooded and the whole of Garhwal Himalaya region was affected. Floods, earthquakes are all results of deforestation. Deforestation was practised on a large scale which was also making the people of Garhwal Himalaya region poor. Looking at this problem of the Garhwal region we started the “Chipko Movement”. My team consisted of Gaura Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, etc. The Chipko Movement told the people that trees are our friends and we should save them. This movement was started in two states namely Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Q. Will you please explain the importance of nature in our lives? A. Nature is our mother who gave us birth. I think nature should be every man’s best friend. It is nature that actually gives us life. It is among the most precious gifts of God to the humans. It there will be no trees, there will be no oxygen for us to breathe, if there will be no rainfall, there will be no rivers and
no water for us to drink. Therefore each and every element of nature gives us something or the other for our existence on this earth. Q. Why do you feel the Government is supportive of the Tehri Dam Project although it will harm the environment? A. I broke the world record during those days for my hunger strike. I sat beside the construction area for months and even had my small hut on the banks of river Ganga. The Prime Minster during those days was Mr. H.D. Dev Gowda and after a few months, he came to Tehri to break my hunger strike. I tried my best to stop the Tehri Dam Project but unfortunately I was unsuccessful. The government supported the Project because of the reason that so many crores of money had already been spent to pass the project which will be wasted if the project stops. Q. Can you please let us know how can we save our nature on a day to day basis? A. According to me every person should remember only three things to save our nature on a day to day basis. The first being that one should decrease our needs, our wants. We should spread afforestation and try to plant as many useful trees as we can. The last thing that we should try to do is to use the alternatives of every perishable thing. It one remembers all three things then nature will always be bestowed on us. Q. Indian rivers are in danger due to pollution, what are your views on how can we save them? A. First of all, all those who commit such on offence should be strictly punished. We need to improve our toilet systems and our sanitary conditions as well. Q. I would like to ask one last question: can you please guide us as to how we can protect our Mother Nature? A. Follow the three rules of life I just told you. Join as many NGOs related to save trees and the environment and whenever you see a tree being cut just call the police and try your best to save our Mother Nature.
The Thomasian, 2012-13
The Thomasian 2012-13
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