Chipko movement pioneer Sunderlal Bahuguna succumbs to COVID-19 at 94

Environmentalist and Chipko movement pioneer Sunderlal Bahuguna died at the age of 94 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday after battling COVID-19 for several days, breathing his last breath at 12.05 pm.

AIIMS Director Ravikant said, "Bahuguna, one of India's best-known environmentalists, was admitted to the hospital on May 8 after testing positive for COVID-19. 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.     

Condoling the death, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat described it as a big loss not just for Uttarakhand and India but for the entire world. "It was he who made the Chipko movement a movement of the masses," Rawat said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered his condolences to the Padma Vibhushan Awardee, and the leader of one of the biggest environmental movements in India.

"Passing away of Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna Ji is a monumental loss for our nation. He manifested our centuries-old ethos of living in harmony with nature. His simplicity and spirit of compassion will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with his family and many admirers. Om Shanti," Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after his death.

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President of India, Ram Nath Kovind also tweeted his condolences, "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."

Led by Sundarlal Bahuguna in 1973, the main objective of the Chipko movement was to protect the trees from the axes of forest contractors.

Bahuguna enlightened the villagers about the importance of trees, telling them how they prevent soil erosion and benefit the environment with rain and purified water. The main demand of the protests was that the trees should not be cut as they benefit the locals. The movement garnered publicity in 1978, when a few women had to face police brutalities.

The then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna set up a committee to look into the matter, which eventually ruled in the favour of the villagers. The event went on to become an example for all future environmental movements across the world.

(With inputs from PTI)