Sundaralal embraced Nilgiris too in his environmental protection fight

Udhagamandalam: “The importance of Nilgiri hills is no less than the Himalayas,” declared Sundarlal Bahuguna, a renowned environmentalist and leader of Chipko Movement, while addressing on the concluding day of the Save Nilgiris March (a 15-day padayatra) at Gandhi Maidan in Ooty in December 1988.
Sundarlal Bahuguna died at the AIIMS in Rishikesh after battling Covid-19 on Friday.He had visited the hills on several occasions on invitation by the Save Nilgiris Campaign (SNC) to take part in their environment-oriented programmes in the late 80s.
One of the early environmentalists of India, Bahuguna, apart from his deep commitment to the conservation of the natural environment of the Himalayas, had an abiding interest in the protection of the natural environment of the Western Ghats in general and the Nilgiris in particular.
The Magsaysay award winner visited the Nilgiris on the invitation of the SNC and undertook an extensive tour of the Nilgiris for four days in November 1986, to assess the state of the environment of Nilgiris.
He visited around 15 villages of Nilgiris to spread the conservation concerns among the people, according to B J Krishnan, senior environmental advocate and one of the conveners of the Save the Western Ghats Movement.
More than 5,000 volunteers participated in the Save Nilgiris Run organised by the SNC in Ooty on May 18, 1988. Bahuguna who was then undergoing treatment in Coimbatore said in a message to the runners, “I hope the hill people will become a source of inspiration to all those who are striving to re-establish the long last harmonious relationship between man and nature.”
Krishnan said, “Protection of the natural environment of the Nilgiris was close to the heart of Sunderlal Bahuguna. He always stood by us in our struggle in the cause of the conservation and participated in some of them.”
He said, “Natural Nilgiris has lost a friend and the environmentalists their godfather”.
The Chipco leader also came to the Nilgiris to visit the Janmam areas to save the forest lands.