India's ecological movements raised the following issues?
A. Big dams industrial pollution MFP
B. Deforestation subsistence livelihood
C. Land reform, MSP
D. Soil depletion flooding access to forest produce
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → A, B, D only
A. Big dams industrial pollution MFP Correct. Ecological movements question a model of development in which big dams displace people from their homes and livelihood, industries displace agriculturalists and industrial pollution harms people. Forest dwellers’ claim to minor forest produce (MFP) is part of the same concern for livelihood.
B. Deforestation subsistence livelihood Correct. In the Chipko Movement villagers hugged the trees to stop their felling, because at stake was the villagers’ subsistence: all of them relied on the forest for firewood, fodder and other daily needs.
C. Land reform, MSP Incorrect. Land was the central problem of peasant movements, and price issues such as remunerative prices and procurement prices were the demands of the new farmers’ movements. These are class-based economic demands, not ecological issues.
D. Soil depletion flooding access to forest produce Correct. Chipko also raised the issue of ecological sustainability: cutting down natural forests had resulted in devastating floods and landslides in the region, and villagers depended on the forest’s produce for their daily needs.
NCERT (2025-26): “8.4 Ecological Movements … For much of the modern period the greatest emphasis has been laid on development. Over the decades there has been a great deal of concern about the unchecked use of natural resources and a model of development that creates new needs that further demands greater exploitation of the already depleted natural resources. This model of development has also been critiqued for assuming that all sections of people will be beneficiaries of development. Thus big dams displace people from their homes and sources of livelihood. Industries displace agriculturalists from their homes and livelihood. The impact of industrial pollution is yet another story.…” “…According to Ramachandra Guha in his book, Unquiet Woods, villagers rallied together to save the oak and rhododendron forests near their villages. When government forest contractors came to cut down the trees, villagers, including large number of women, stepped forward to hug the trees to prevent their being felled. At stake was the question of villagers’ subsistence. All of them relied on the forest to get firewood, fodder and other daily necessities.” “This conflict placed the livelihood needs of poor villagers against the government’s desire to generate revenues from selling timber. The economy of subsistence was pitted against the economy of profit. Along with this issue of social inequality (villagers versus a government that represented commercial, capitalist interests), the Chipko Movement also raised the issue of ecological sustainability. Cutting down natural forests was a form of environmental destruction that had resulted in devastating floods and landslides in the region.…” |