Kerala   

For the nightingale, a home in the forests

Sugathakumari

MUKKALI (PALAKKAD): She spent moments of agony and sleepless nights while “leading a battle I was sure to lose.” The battle she did win, and the Silent Valley struggle emerged as the symbol of the conservation movement not only in the country but also at the international level.

Sugathakumari, poet, and others who had been in the forefront of the struggle to protect the Silent Valley forests recall their ordeal in organising a campaign against all odds in the 1970s and 1980s to protect the remaining patch of the unique rainforests.

In an interview to The Hindu at the Silent Valley Information Centre, Sugathakumari said, “Today, when I am on my way to Sairandhri, where a hydel power dam was proposed, it is a homecoming for me and it is my temple where I have come to worship the rain god living in this unique rainforest. I will stay at Sairandhri in the night which is five-star luxury for any nature lover.”

The poet said that when she read an article on Silent Valley by M.K. Prasad in the late 1970s, “some deep emotion swelled within me and I felt that it was my life mission to fight for this unknown bit of forest land. I feel proud that I could be a soldier in this battle and could call out to my brother writers also to join.”

“I wrote to the eminent writers of Kerala, ‘Every battle has two sides, the winning side and the losing side. Maybe, we are on the losing side. But the losing side also needs soldiers. Will you join this battle?’”

Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer replied first, writing, “Make me a solider in this losing battle,” and enclosed Rs.200 with the letter.

She said the greatest achievement of the struggle was that it made people in power aware of the importance of protecting the remaining precious tropical forests. The judiciary suddenly became alert issuing orders to protect the environment.

The forest conservation Act, 1980 brought by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, ably assisted by the then Union Forest Secretary T.N. Seshan, was one of the biggest achievements that helped to protect the remaining forests in the country.

“Though we have won the battle to save Silent Valley, there are many other major environmental issues still haunting us,” she said.

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