The Telangana government’s decision to auction off 400 acres of forested land in the heart of Hyderabad sparked massive public outrage recently. Here are a few other popular people’s movements that sought to fight for our forests.
Recently, the Telangana government found itself holding a hot potato. Its proposal to clear nearly 400 acres of forest land in the heart of Hyderabad to construct IT parks sparked massive student protests. The public uproar resulted in a small win when the Supreme Court of India directed the Telangana government to halt the deforestation.
This is not the first time the civil society has been up in arms with the ruling regime. The development debate around Hyderabad’s forest zone echoes past battles where infrastructure and environment have stood at odds. Here’s a lowdown of similar protests that dot India’s timeline.
Long before social media activism and climate summits, there were the Bishnois of Rajasthan. In 1730, when the king’s men came to chop the Khejri trees in Khejarli village, the Bishnois hugged the trees to stop them.
Their message was loud and clear – the lives of trees were worth more than theirs. Over 350 villagers, including Amrita Devi Bishnoi, lost their lives during the movement.
It wasn’t just about saving trees. It was about protecting a way of life that revered nature. The Khejarli massacre laid the foundation for environmental resistance in India.
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A couple of decades after independence, plans to build a hydroelectric dam in Kerala caused a massive uproar. At stake was the Silent Valley, home to rare plants and endangered animal species.
The citizens flooded the streets in protest and achieved a rare victory: the dam project was scrapped and the area was declared a national park. The Silent Valley case showed how non-violent people’s movements can influence policy decisions.
Around the same time in the Himalayan foothills of Uttarakhand, villagers—mostly women—wrapped their arms around trees to prevent loggers from felling them.
This was the Chipko movement. Sparked by local deforestation and flooding, it evolved into a landmark environmental movement.
The villagers’ non-violent resistance drew national attention and led to a ban on commercial tree felling in the region. The Chipko Movement became a global symbol of grassroots environmentalism and women-led climate action
When the government tried to replace native sal forests in Singhbhum with commercial teak plantations, tribal communities—particularly the Ho people—rose up.
They argued that this was not development but exploitation that ignored their rights and ecological wisdom. Their protests sparked the Jangal Bachao Andolan, which questioned top-down afforestation policies and eventually helped shape more community-driven forest governance.
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When the Western Ghats—one of the world’s richest biodiversity zones—faced deforestation and mining threats, the response was hardly tight-lipped.
Environmentalists and locals walked hundreds of kilometers in a protest march known as a Padyatra.
It was a walk to save India’s green lungs. This movement soon grew into a nationwide campaign, educating rural and urban Indians about environmental degradation, long before the word “climate crisis” was trending.
The Dongria Kondh tribe in Odisha fought to protect the sacred Niyamgiri Hills from bauxite mining by UK-based Vedanta Resources.
The hills were not just ecologically rich but held deep cultural and spiritual significance. After years of resistance, including legal action and international attention, the movement saw a landmark win in 2013 when the Supreme Court ruled that local gram sabhas (village administration) had the final say.
It was a milestone for indigenous rights and environmental justice in India.
In 2019, more than 2000 trees were felled overnight at the Aarey forest in Mumbai to make space for a metro car shed. Stretched over 1,300 hectares of forest land in the northern suburb of Goregaon, Aarey had been at the centre of the development debate for more than a decade before that.
The deforestation happened despite several public protests and multiple appeals to the Bombay High Court to save the ‘last lung’ of Mumbai. The Aarey forest has been caught in political crossfires on more occasions than one and to date its fate is unclear.
Petitions continue to circulate online, environmental groups are being mobilised, and youth-led climate collectives are speaking out. Many young Indians—especially in cities—aren’t distant from these issues anymore. They’re living them daily, through worsening air, water woes, and the toll it takes on mental health.
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In the lead image on top, the harmful effects of deforestation are seen as an earthmover ploughs its way through a barren track. (Photo courtesy Shutterstock)
Suhani Bhatia is a writer exploring the intersections of development, environment, and social justice through storytelling. She believes in using words to question power, amplify unheard voices, and imagine better futures.
