OBITUARY Remembering a Grassroots Environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna

Archana Bahuguna Padma Vibhushan Sunderlal Bahuguna at a young age (Photo courtesy: Mr Aranya Ranjan)

UNDERLAL Bahuguna was just 13 years old when he soil, water and air, which are the foundation of life). The met Shri Dev Suman, a freedom fighter from Garhwal. slogan conveys the message about the role of forests and SThat was the turning point of his life. He was impressed also the concept of ecosystem value, recently contrived but by the Charkha that Sumanji carried and found his guru in actually framed by him many years back. the Indian freedom fighter. When Sumanji was imprisoned Another methodology to attract the attention of local in Tehri Jail in 1942, he somehow managed to meet him and people was the reciting of Bhagvat Kathas. These are moral frisked out his statement which was later published in the lessons from the life of Lord Krishna echoing the importance Hindi edition of Hindustan Times. of forests and trees. Later Sunderlal Bahuguna was himself arrested Although to practice of protesting the axing of trees by and imprisoned in Narendra Nagar, 40 km from Tehri. hugging them was initiated by Gaura Devi in a small remote Because of the ill-treatment in jail, he became sick and village of Garhwal in Rainee, Sunderlal Bahuguna gave the was hospitalised, from where he slipped away and reached direction and moulded the movement along with his colleagues Lahore. In times to come, his interaction with Mira Ben, Sarla Pratap Shekhar, Vimla Ji, Kunwar Prasoon, Ghanshyam Ben, Vinobha Bhawe, and also his marriage with Vimlaji Saklani, Dhum Singh Negi and Chandi Prasad Bhatt. His created all the circumstances that would transform him into activism and philosophy inspired many and was responsible an environmentalist of International fame. A Gandhian to for the growth of other social activists like Dr Vandana Shiva the core, known for leading the world-renowned Chipko in and Padma Vibhushan Dr Anil Joshi. the 1970s and the anti-Tehri dam Movement in the 1990s, His love for the forest was due to his interaction with Sunderlal Bahuguna breathed his last on 21 May 2021. nature while roaming around in the forest along with his Sunderlal Bahuguna gave special emphasis to padytraas, father. His father was a forest officer who died when Sunderlal i.e. marching on foot, for generating mass awareness about was just eight years old. Sunderlal and his two brothers and the environment and also to record the impact of development one sister were taken care of by their mother but for a short on the environment. He covered Kashmir to Kohima on foot duration as she also expired when he was just 15 years old. He and also visited Bhutan without any fund support. Whenever was very much influenced by the hardships of his mother and he visited any village, he would interact with the villagers his experiences of early life prepared him to face all sorts of who also brought food for him and his colleagues. struggles for his activism in the future, including his protests He developed simple strategies for the Chipko movement against deforestation and against the construction of the Tehri which invariably found resonance with the masses. He was Dam. Two of his major hunger strikes were of 45 and 74 days impressed by the songs of Ghanshyam Sailanei who used to duration. accompany him with a harmonium. The simple slogan Kyaa He was a sincere follower of Gandhian principles and hein jungle ke upkaar, mitti pani aur byaar, mitti pani aur applied his strategies for the conservation of nature. He byaar, zinda rehne ke aadhaar (What does the forest bear believed that forests should first meet the requirement of the

34 | Science Reporter | July 2021 Sunderlal Bahuguna during the protest against the Tehri Dam; sitting on his right is the author Dr Archana Bahuguna (Photo courtesy: Mr Samir Raturee) locals and the villagers should guard the forests around their his memories of foot march/padyaatra in Himachal Pradesh villages; this is how the concept of community participation during the Chipko movement. During the 70s the forests in originated and is applied by many foresters for forest Himachal Pradesh were reducing at an alarming rate. It was management. He always emphasized that the forest provides the outcome of the movement that the rate of deforestation three F’s for us – food, fibre and fuel – and so the locals decreased remarkably. should actively participate in their conservation. Some major decisions were taken by the Government The involvement of women in environmental movements when he refused to take the Padma Shree. This included on a large scale was because of their faith in Sunderlal moratorium on felling of green trees for commercial purpose, Bahuguna. Whenever I visited the Ganga Kuti constructed above the altitude of one thousand metres and on slopes with a near Bhagirathi during the Tehri Dam protest, I noted that grade of over thirty degrees. This moratorium was applied not ladies came for evening Ganga Puja routinely. After puja, only in the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh but also in Himachal they often described their worries to him with the hope that he Pradesh. It was due to his efforts that the height of the Tehri would have solutions to their problems. Dam was reduced. He was against the construction of big As a father, he wanted his children to follow the dams in the Himalayas as it would affect the entire ecology rules and regulations of the Nav Jeevan Ashram, which and nature of the rivers and also the Himalayas. His advocacy he established with Vimla ji in Silyara, a village in Tehri. was for small dams, to suffice the need of electricity of the Everyone contributed to meal preparation in the ashram and local areas. had to clean their utensils themselves. The food was prepared He was against the overexploitation of natural resources on Chullah. There was also a gobar gas plant. There was a like in the hotels of metros and other big cities. He had library and some rooms with traditional mat (chatayee). A concern for water conservation and he believed that the free small window provided a scenic view of nature all around. flow of water in the river maintained its healthy nature for The entire surroundings were full of orchards and vegetables. humans as well as for other flora and fauna, thus he framed I just adored the place. the slogan – Ganga ko aviral behne do. When Sunderlal ji and Vimla ji visited the place after He declared 9th September as Himalaya Diwas and their marriage it was barren unfertile land. It was their his focus on the Himalayas prompted the Government to and local people’s hard work that the land became fertile. initiate projects and programmes under the National Mission Sunderlal ji had taken the pledge that he would not go to on Himalaya studies. His suggestions for agroforestry, the ashram until the Government accorded consent to his especially for the Himalayas, were never applied on a large recommendations against the construction of the Tehri dam. scale and that is the reason why soil erosion, flood and After the construction of the Tehri dam, he never visited the expansion of desert are the biggest environment issues in the ashram. Himalayas. Sunderlal Bahuguna was very fond of traditional dresses Sunderlal Bahuguna was an Institution in himself. The and traditional food. During his stay at my residence in country can never forget this committed environmentalist Kaulagarh, Dehra Dun I served him a preparation of kutu and whose actions, strategies, suggestions and recommendations he would say it reminded him of his mother. He practiced helped preserve the environment in more ways than one. natural therapy and applied it throughout his life. He used to take lemon and honey in water every day during his fast and also kept maun vrat (silence). Dr Archana Bahuguna is Senior Scientist, Zoological Survey of India, My last memory with him is of meeting him before High Altitude Regional Center, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. She is also joining my office in Solan, Himachal Pradesh. He recollected the daughter-in-law of Padma Vibhushan Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna

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