Environmentalists

ENVIRONMENTALISTS… -go green

BY, S.BHAVESH JAIN

X-A

INDEX…

• INTRODUCTION.• ENVIRONMENTALISTS1. Anupam Mishra 2. Sunderlal Bahuguna 3. MEDHA PATKAR 4. Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy 5. Kailash Sankhala

• An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities“. An environmentalist is engaged in or believes in the philosophy of environmentalism.

• Most politically inclined environmentalists identify themselves as greens and they have strong views on issues that concern the environment. The Green Parties are generally applied to those in the environmental movement working as volunteers, activists or paid staff. However, the term could also be applied to environmental scientists. Some environmentalists are also green anarchists, arguing that true environmental change cannot occur under the present economic model. Others are eco-socialists, who combine Marxism, socialism and ecology with environmentalism to produce an anti-capitalist ideology that sees capitalism as the cause of environmental problems, social injustice and inequality.

• Typically, environmentalists have conservationist views - in general, they advocate for the preservation, restoration, or enhancement of the natural environment.

• Environmentalists are sometimes given names in an informal or derogatory context such as the terms "greenie" and "tree-hugger".

Anupam Mishra …

ANUPAM MISHRA• Anupam Mishra (born 1948) is an Indian Gandhian and environmentalist, and

water conservationist who works on promoting water conservation, water management and traditional rainwater harvesting techniques. He had been awarded the 1996 Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP) award instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. He travels to villages across Indian states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, advocating water harvesting, and has been advocating conservation of traditional water structure in India as well as abroad

• Born in Madhya Pradesh, he is a member and secretary of 'Gandhi Peace Foundation' and the editor of foundation's magazine 'Gandhi Marg'. and a founding member of 'Centre for Environment and Food Security', founded in 2001 in Delhi. He has been promoting the use of indigenous knowledge to solve water problem via preservation, maintenance and regeneration of ponds, water management and rain water harvesting.

• Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab . On line text, 1993• Rajasthan ki Rajat bunde , Published by Gandhi Shanti Prathisthan, New Delhi. 1995.• Chipko movement: Uttarakhand women's bid to save forest wealth, with Satyendra

Tripathi. People's Action, 1978

SUNDERLAL BAHUGUNA

SUNDERLAL BAHUGUNA • Sunderlal Bahuguna was born in village Maroda, near Tehri. Early on, he fought against untouchability

and later started organizing hill women in his anti-liquor drive from 1965 to 1970.• In Hindi, "Chipko" literally means "to stick". Chipko movement later became famous as Appiko in

Karnataka. One of Sunderlal Bahuguna's notable contributions to that cause, and to environmentalism in general, was his creation of the Chipko's slogan "Ecology is permanent economy." Sunderlal Bahuguna helped bring the movement to prominence through a 5,000-kilometer trans-Himalaya march conducted from 1981 to 1983, travelling from village to village, gathering support for the movement and meeting with the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. That meeting is credited with resulting in Ms. Gandhi's subsequent 15-year ban on felling of green trees in 1980.He was also closely associated with Gaura Devi, one of the pioneers of the movement.

• A protest message against Tehri dam, which was steered by Sundarlal Bahuguna for years. It says "We don't want the dam. The dam is the mountain's destruction."

• He has remained behind the anti-Tehri Dam protests for decades, he used the Satyagraha methods, and repeatedly went on hunger strikes at the banks of Bhagirathi as a mark of his protest. In 1995, he called off a 45-day-long fast following an assurance from the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao of the appointment of a review committee on the ecological impacts of the dam, thereafter he went on another long fast another fast which lasted for 74 days at Gandhi Samadhi, Raj Ghat, during the tenure of Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, he gave personal undertaking of project review. However despite a court case which ran in the Supreme Court for over a decade, work resumed at the Tehri dam in 2001, following which he was arrested on April 20, 2001.

MEDHA PATKAR ….

MEDHA PATKAR ….• Medha Patkar (born 1 December 1954) is an Indian social activist. She is

known for her role in Narmada Bachao Andolan. She has also filed a public interest petition in the Bombay high court against Lavasa along with other members of National Alliance of People's Movements including Anna Hazare.

• MEDHA PATKAR was born in Mumbai Maharashtra in Kudaldeshkar family to Indu and Vasant Khanolkar, a trade union leader and freedom fighter.She was raised by politically and socially active parents. Her father actively fought in the Indian Independence MovementHer mother was a member of Swadar, an organization setup to help and assist women suffering difficult circumstances arising out of financial, educational, and health related problems. Her parents' activism played a role in shaping her philosophical views.She was often known for her extreme views on growth of country and liberalization.

• She got married to Mr. Patkar but got divorced.• She did her M.A. in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy

Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy • Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy (born 30 December 1950) is an Indian social worker

and tribal rights activist. He is well known for his contributions to the upliftment of the forest dwelling tribes (mainly Soligas) in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. He is also a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and the Padma Shri.Early life and education

• Dr. Sudarshan Reddy was born in Yemalur on the outskirts of Bangalore. He graduated from Bangalore Medical College and became a medical doctor in the year 1973. He is also an Adjunct Professor at IGNOU.

• Dr. Sudarshan, after graduation, he joined the charitable health institutions of Ramakrishna Mission which took him to the Himalayas of Uttar Pradesh, Belur Math in West Bengal and Ponnampet in Karnataka as part of the job. Instead of pursuing a medical practice in the cities, he decided to work with tribal communities and in 1980, he started the Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra for the integrated development of the tribals in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. He is also the founder and Honorary Secretary of the Karuna Trust, which is dedicated to rural development in the states of Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh. He claims inspiration from the man-making and nation-building ideals of Swami Vivekananda. He advocates Gandhian ideals for rural development.

Kailash Sankhala …

Kailash Sankhala …• Kailash Sankhala (1925–1994) was a renowned naturalist and conservationist of India. He was the

director of Delhi Zoological Park and Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan. Born on 30 January 1925 he is best known for his work in preserving tigers. He was well known around the globe as the Tiger Man, and was involved in the formation of Project Tiger, the world's largest wildlife conservation programme set up in India in 1972.

• Kailash Sankhala successfully managed Sariska, Bharatpur, Banvihar and Ranthambhor Wildlife Sanctuaries and the forest divisions of Rajasthan until 1964, and in 1965 was appointed Director of the Delhi Zoological Park which in 1969 was rated one of the first three zoological parks in the world. For five years Sankhala served as head of the world-famous zoo at Delhi, where his firmly held views on what zoos should be initially aroused anger, and later admiration. He had confrontations too with the Indian tourist establishment, and with the poachers who wished to make quick money out of tiger skins. Then in 1972 he was appointed head of 'Project Tiger', a worldwide attempt to save the Indian tiger from extinction: five years later he gave up his job with the problem solved.

• Kailash Shankhala was first conservationist who raised voice in favour of protecting the tiger as early as 1956. He spear headed the crusade and succeeded in helping rescue the species from the brink of extinction when hunting tiger was in practice. He carried through this challenging mission with untiring energy and dedication even at the risk of his career and death threats. He conducted an extensive study under the Jawahar Lal Nehru felloship during a time when tiger population was dwindling at an alarming rate due to poaching and hunting. His research later lead him to launch the Project Tiger in 1973. He was founding director of the Project Tiger in 1973

THE END BY,

S.BHAVESH JAIN X-A