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An interaction with Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt on ‘Himalaya Environment and Development: Experiences of the ‘Chipko’ Movement’ at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.
On 14th August, 2015.

About the Interaction
Himalayas are the repository of our cultural heritage and the mainstay of our environmental riches and development. Lately, however, they have become prone to disasters – the latest being in 2013. To ensure the continuance Himalayas as the beacon of our environment and development, conscientious policy making and a lot of public awareness is necessary. This talk is a part of such an effort.
Alaknanda caused a human-made disaster first in 1970. Forest cover was denuding. Led by women, Chipko (or embrace the tree to prevent it from cutting) movement brought the focus on the need for environmental sustainability in the process of socio-economic transformation.
As one of its pioneers, Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt gave the Chipko movement of the 1970s a Gandhian thrust. They believe in the principle that ‘there is a time to confront and a time to construct’.
About the Speaker
Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt was born in 1934 at Gopeshwar (Uttarakhand) in a poor Brahmin family. On losing his father quite early in life, he had to start working, as a booking clerk in a transport company, at a very young age. His life changed on meeting Jai Prakash Narayan in 1958. He founded the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sanghat Gopeshwar in 1964 and later led the Chipko movment.
Bhattji has also authored half a dozen books. His latest book is on his experiences of walking on river beds and mountains all over the world. It’s entitled Parvat-parvat Basti-basti (Hindi) (National Book Trust, 2011).
While Bhattji has won the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1982), Padma Shri (1986), Padma Bhushan (2005), Gandhi Peace Prize (2013) etc., he insists that every activity of his has been the product of collective efforts. At times, therefore, he has successfully insisted that the awards be given to a larger group, particularly the Mahila Mangal Dals.