Protests Abound as Uttarakhand Prepares to Slash 10,000 Trees

As 28-year-old filmmaker, Varchasva Dhunta, steered his camera through a vast crowd cheering “Jungle jyaada jaroori hai” (forest is more important), several demonstrators hugged the Thano forest trees along Dehradun’s Jolly Grant Airport Road, enacting the famous “Chipko Aandolan.”

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Many even tied the Raksha Sutra – a sacred thread for ritualistic protection – around the wide girth of old trees, while hundreds of demonstrators reproached in the background “Pedh katna band karo” (stop cutting the trees).

More than 20 voluntary organisations, community groups and commoners came out on Dehardun’s street on 18 October and 8 November to register their protest against the axing of 10,000 trees of Thano Reserve Forest.

These protesters, numbering around 1200, were all residents of Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Thano, Doiwala and other nearby towns.