Uttarakhand has been home to many environmentalists from Jim Corbett to Sundar Lal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt. Uttarakhand is aptly the land of Gods, the Mountains and the rivers, but the recent rapid construction has taken a toll on the mountains.
But in the small villages of these hills you will always find people fighting for their rivers and mountains we met such a man on our recent visit to New Tehri Gambhir Singh Chauhan is a principle at the Government school at New Tehri. Since 10 years he has been trying to raise awareness among people about the importance of these rivers and Mountains in their life.
Gambhir Singh Chauhan has also documented a collection of news, articles and photographs showing the effects of Tehri Dam and the legacy of the Old Tehri town which is now submerged in the waters of pristine Bhagirathi. Now the Dam has been constructed his only aim is to make the youth of Uttarakhand understand the hills and revisit the glory of the town submerged under the lake. In return of his contribution all he has got are few awards from local government but his main reward will be when the people of hills realize the importance of Mother Nature.
When asked about his plans to bring out the glory of the hills of old Tehri to the knowledge of the youth, he answered with a pained smile let me take retirement first then after I will be able to spend my full time towards my aim.
Team eUttaranchal wishes this brave heart in his journey and wants to aware our friends that it’s high time we look at our mountains and consider their deteriorating conditions. As Sunder Lal Bahuguna had rightly said: “Ecology is the Economy of our world”.
