Women in Jakhni village who launched a campaign against a two-kilometre-long road along their village that would result in the felling of 500 oak trees, have suspended their stir. This follows an assurance from government officials that they would come up with another route to reach Majgaon village.
On March 15, the women in Jakhni, in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand, hugged trees and organised sit-in protests against the proposed road. They said the forest cover in the area ensures replenishment of groundwater and keeps the springs functional. The women termed the protest the “Chipko of Bageshwar”.
“We have suspended the protests after government officials assured us of a diversion, but if the government fails to keep its assurance, our protest is likely to intensify, ” Laxmi Devi, one of the protestors told Gaon Connection.
“It is women who have a staggering participation in the protests because it is us who are responsible for getting water from the spring in the forest and feeding the cattle. Our livelihoods are directly dependent on the trees in the forests, we will prefer to be run over by the bulldozer than leave the trees to be cut down,” she added.
A local resident told Gaon Connection on the condition of anonymity that the cutting of trees will not only disturb the fragile ecology of the area but also displace around 600 inhabitants whose livelihoods are directly dependent on this forest.
When approached for their reactions, the Bageshwar District Magistrate Vineet Kumar and Kanda Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rakesh Tiwari did not respond to Gaon Connection.
Ishwar Singh, gram pradhan (village head) of Jakhni informed Gaon Connection that around 100 women hugged trees to save the sacred grove (a forest dedicated to the local deity).
After the recent Chamoli disaster, villagers in Bageshwar are worried that cutting their forests to lay roads may destroy springs and trigger more landslides. However, the forest department claims only 43 trees will be axed for the proposed road project.
The residents of Jakhni have been conserving and protecting their forests since the late 1970s. The famous Chipko Andolan was launched from the state in 1973, when rural women hugged trees to protect them.
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In 1978, the villagers of Jakhni embarked on a journey to dedicate the green patches, forests and green belts to local deities. “That helped in the revival of green cover in the district. As of now, we have close to 6,000 hectares of green cover belonging to Kotagiri Devi, the goddess of justice in the hills of Uttarakhand,” Kamla Devi, sarpanch of Jakhni, who is leading the protests, told Gaon Connection.
