While the country celebrated the festival of Raksha Bandhan with women tying Rakhis around the wrists of their brothers, women in various villages of the State’s mountainous regions participated in the Rakshasutra movement by tying threads (rakhis) around tree trunks on the occasion.
It is pertinent to mention here that following the Chipko movement, commercial logging was prohibited above 1000 metres altitude in 1983 but the Government repealed this prohibition in 1994. locals in some parts of Uttarakhand began tying ‘rakshasutra’- for protection of the trees.
According to environmentalist Suresh Bhai, after the government withdrew the prohibition, the Forest department had started stamping various species of green trees for cutting in Rayala, Harshil, Chaurangikhal, Mukhem, Harunta, Gyaun and other places in Uttarkashi district. Women from more than three dozen villages had tied threads around these trees as a sign of protection, which marked the start of the Rakshasutra movement.
The movement achieved major success later on with action being taken by the department against officials found guilty of facilitating illegal tree felling. To mark Rakshabandhan, women from Juguldi and Chinakholi in Uttarkashi district tied Rakhis around tree trunks, informed Suresh Bhai.The movement that began on August 10-11, 1994 saw women from Tehri and Uttarkashi districts successfully preventing the commercial logging on about 12 lakh hectares in these two districts between 1994 and 2000, he added.
The women in the rural mountainous regions of Uttarakhand have continued the tradition of protecting their village forests till this day due to the importance accorded to trees and other aspects of the environment.