The Difference in the Nature of Chipko and Silent Valley

Movements
Both Chipko and Silent Valley Movement are non-violent environmental movements formed
to protect the forests mainly but the methods of execution (nature) were completely different
from one another.

Chipko Movement started in the year 1973 in the Chamoli District and later at Tehri-Garhwal
District of Uttarakhand, under the leadership of Sundarlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, Sudesha
Devi, Bachni Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Govind Singh Rawat, Dhoom Singh Negi,
Shamsher Singh Bisht and Ghanasyam Raturi. The main reason for the birth of Chipko
movement was the developments that took place with the perspective of border security, after
the 1963 China Border Conflict. The development proved to be disastrous for forest and the
overall environment of the area. Widespread floods inundated the area in 1970. The other
reason was that the villagers were not allowed to cut the trees for fuel wood or for fodder and
for certain other purposes. However, a sports equipment manufacturing company was given
the permission to fell trees and use them to make equipment.

A group of villagers went into the forest and embraced the trees to prevent logging. The name
of the movement i.e., ‘Chipko’, which means embrace. The method of resisting the cutting of
trees is called “Chipko”, which makes this method popular in tree care. Due to its popularity
and effectiveness, Chipko took the form of a mass movement, which became known as the
“Chipko Movement”. The Chipko movement can essentially be called as women’s
movement. Women, being in charge of cultivation, livestock and children, suffered the most
due to floods and landslides, caused due to rise in deforestation in the face of urbanisation.

The Chipko Andolan also stands out as an eco-feminist movement. Women formed the
nucleus of the movement, as the group most directly affected by the lack of firewood and
drinking water caused by deforestation. The power of protest is an invaluable and powerful
agent of social change.

Silent valley is an evergreen tropical forest, which is a densely forested area in the Palakkad
District of Kerala, India. The silent valley movement started in 1978 as a Wildlife
Conservation Project, by an NGO in Kerala, named Kerala Sasthra Sathiya. The movement
originated after the announcement of dam construction at the upper stream of Kunthipura.
The British technical experts suggested that the dam at the upper stream can help in

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generating hydroelectricity. The project was approved in 1973 by the Planning Commission.
The main objective of the project was to generate 240 megawatts of electricity. There was no
protest as such till 1976.

In Silent valley Movement, the main goal was to protect the moist evergreen forests in Kerala
from being destroyed for the hydroelectric project. In this movement, there were many
protests from the locals, group of environmentalists, government and many officials in the
form of reports and petitions to protect against the construction of a dam over the upper
stream. Under the leadership of Vice-President of World Wildlife Fund, India, a task force
was formed. The task force worked for a year and did several surveys, which suggested
stopping the construction of the project. The report presented by the task force concluded that
the construction of the project will cause a lot of damage to forest life and will lead to
disasters in the forest. It will ultimately harm the flora, fauna, and the water resources. The
report also suggested that if the government has no option but to build the dam, they have to
follow the 17 guidelines provided in the report. In 1979, the lead of the task force accepted
that the earlier report was a mistake and pleaded with the government for a total ban on the
project.