PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Jyotirmath
A special cover and Customised My Stamp by India Post were released on Saturday to mark the birth centenary of Chipko Movement leader Gaura Devi. Forest minister Subodh Uniyal and the late Gaura Devi’s son Chandra Singh Rana were among those present at the function held at her village Reni in the Jyotirmath block of Chamoli district.
During the programme organised by the Nanda Devi National Park, Uniyal planted a sapling and paid homage to Gaura Devi. Mahila Mangal Dal members from various villages presented cultural performances based on environmental conservation. Appreciating the contribution of the Chipko Movement, the minister said that this event could have been held in Dehradun but it was held in her Karmabhumi Reni as a true homage to her contribution to protecting trees and the environment. Gaura Devi was a prominent activist of the Chipko Movement. In Marcch 1974, most village folk had gone to a neighbouring location for a meeting when contractors attempted to fell trees in the forests neighbouring the village, which is currently within the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Gaura Devi led women of Reni and Lata villages to embrace the trees. The women’s determination ultimately forced the contractors to return without cutting the trees.
Badrinath MLA Lakhpat Butola, chief postmaster general of Uttarakhand circle Shashi Shalini Kujur and others were also present at the function held on Saturday.
