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Panduranga Hegde

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Name
  
Panduranga Hegde


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Panduranga Hegde is an environmentalist from Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, India and is known as the person who started Appiko movement to protect trees in Western Ghats.

Contents

Birth and early life

Panduranga Hegde was born in 1956 in Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka and studied bachelor's degree at Karnatak University. He worked as Chartered Accountant at Delhi and later trained himself in Social work at Delhi School of Social Work and spent four years in Madhya Pradesh among rural people with Damoh, a non government organisation. He was attracted by Chipko movement led by Sundarlal Bahuguna and got involved with protection of forests and environment.

Appiko movement

Panduranga Hegde is inspired by Sundarlal Bahuguna in the area of environmental protection and is known as disciple of the latter. During the 1980s, Panduraga Hegde led people to protect trees in forest by embracing the trees or appiko (as in local language Kannada) when the contractors tried to fell trees.

Later activities

  • Involved in creating people awareness against the dangers of radiation near Kaiga nuclear plant established in Karnataka.
  • Filed a case in Supreme Court of India against felling of trees in Western Ghats for construction of railway line.
  • He has been opposing high rise dams constructed for hydroelectrical production, in view of environmental damage.
  • Panduranga Hegde is recording the biodiversity of Western Ghats for past several years.
  • He is actively involved in Save Western Ghats campaign.
  • The traditional knowledge of tribes like Siddis are studied and propagated by Panduranga Hegde for conservation of environment.
  • He was instrumental in releasing Western Ghats Manifesto before 15th Loksabha election, so as to commit the candidates competing for election towards holistic policies to conserve the Western Ghats.
  • He also joined hands with Bangalore-based Kenneth Anderson Nature Society to protest against Gundia Hydel Power Project and alleged that the project is illegal as it destroys more than 700 hectares of thick forests.

    • References

    Panduranga Hegde Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA