‘GUARD OF HIMALAYAS’ PASSES AWAY AT 94.
Over the last year and half, COVID has taken many people from us. Another name added to this endless list, is Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna.
He was an eminent environmentalist, Padma Vibhushan Awardee and was famously known for his role in the Chipko Movement.
From a very young age of thirteen, he had been tirelessly working on social issues like freedom movements, anti liquor drives and many environmental causes. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and also adopted his principles in his life. He walked through the Himalayas, covering more than 4,700 km on foot and observed the damage done by mega development projects and their ill-effects on the surrounding villages.
He gave the famous Chipko Movement a proper direction and brought it to prominence through a 5,000 km trans Himalaya march in the early 80s. He had gathered so much support from the masses during that period that it bagged him an appointment with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This meeting resulted in Mrs. Gandhi’s announcement of 15 year ban on cutting of green trees.
He was also a part of the Anti-Tehri Dam protests for decades where he used Gandhian ideals of non violent protests including numerous hunger strikes and marches.
Mr. Bahuguna has been an inspiration to a lot of youngsters over the past few decades and still continues to be a source of motivation to environmentalist across the globe.
His work for nature and society has been nothing less than excellence and we sincerely hope that we can work on his principles and ideas in the coming future to make this planet a better place to live in.
