Lesson -4
Trees : Our Saviours
1. Name different kinds of trees.
2. What do we get from trees?
The forests of the Himalayan region have played an important role in the life of the people of Uttarakhand. They have been supplying fodder for their cattle, wood for fuel, fruits for food and herbs for medical treatment. The forests have also prevented floods and soil erosion in the area during the monsoon season.
During the 1970’s, however deforestation began. Trees were cut down. As a result, there was nothing to hold the soil. The rushing rain water carried away not only the soil, but also huge rocks, causing landslides, filling up the rivers, leading to floods. Further owing to the forest trees being taken away, the people who depended on them for food and fuel, faced great difficulty. They had to walk longer distances to collect firewood for cooking, plants for food and medicines, and to graze their cattle.
The people were angry but helpless. They did not know what they, the simple villagers, could do to stop the destruction of their forests.
For a long time rich forests had been destroyed by the contractors. One morning in March 1973, a group of people from a factory that made railway goods arrived at the village of Gopeshwar, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. They had come to cut the ash trees. The wood was to be used to make sleepers for the railways in the plains. The villagers requested the axemen to go back, but they refused to return. The people decided that they would not let the axes touch the trees, no matter what happened. They said,
“Let us save our precious trees. Let us hug them so that no one can reach them.”
And they all rushed forward shouting, “Chipko Chipko.” The axemen were frightened by the turn the situation had taken and ran away. The people had succeeded in saving their trees!
Thus began the movement called “Chipko” or “Hug the Trees”. It was a non-violent movement of the mountain people to save their trees by hugging them.
The villagers of Gopeshwar had saved its trees but the contractors were not going to give up easily. They chose another forest which was about 60 kilometres away from Gopeshwar. News of this reached Gopeshwar. So the entire village men and women, old and young, began to march in a procession. They carried drums and trumpets and banners with messages like-
“Chop me - not the tree.”
and
“Kill us first, before you cut a single tree.”
The axemen could not raise their axes. They fled. The “Chipko” idea had once again won. Trees had been saved. The message began to sweep through the region. The people knew that if they could save their forest, the forest would save for them their soil, their water and their livelihood.
Many such incidents took place. Over the years the people's movement became well known all over India and abroad. Thus, people have come together to work to protect their forests. They have organised themselves especially the women through organisations such as the Dasohli Gram Swarajya Mandal to regenerate the degraded forests.
This is how the Chipko movement has proved very valuable in the conservation of forests. It has taught an important lesson to the people in the conservation of the forests.
EXERCISES
Read and Learn
destroy
situation
trumpet
arrive succeed
incident
refuse non-violent
organisation
precious
procession
conservation
Word Power
A) The letters 'dis' and 'un' before a word often mean 'not'. Make new words by adding the correct prefixes.
Example : like - dislike, unlike
friendly - unfriendly
happy - unhappy
continue - discontinue
agree - disagree
fair - unfair
kind - unkind
approve - approve
B) Fill the right word in the right place:
1. clothes are made of cloth. (cloth/clothes)
2. My elder brother obviously is older than me. (elder/older)
3. My grandfather is old and is childish , but my uncle often behaves in a child-like manner which I don't like. (child-like / childish)
4. We can adapt to western ways of living but not adopt them. (adopt / adapt)
C) The word ‘landslide’ is made of two separate words-land + slide = landslide
similarly
fire + wood = firewood
axe + men = axemen
These words are known as ‘Compound Words’.
Now match the words given in the two boxes to make compound words.
Ans. –
Tooth + brush = Toothbrush
News + paperboard = Newspaperboard
Tea + pot = Teapot
Note + book = Notebook
Rain + coat = Raincoat
Farm + house = Farmhouse
Suit + case = Suitcase
Bar + graph = Bargraph
Comprehension
A) Answer the following questions:
Q.1. Why did the workers from a factory come to the village of Gopeshwar?
Ans. - They had come to village of Gopeshwar for cutting trees.
Q.2. What did the villagers decide when the axemen refused to return?
Ans. - They decided that they would not let the axes touch the trees, no matter what happened.
Q.3. What did the axemen do when the villagers hugged the trees and shouted "Chipko, Chipko"?
Ans. - The axemen frightened and ran away.
Q.4. What did the villagers do when the contractors chose another forest?
Ans. - The villagers (young, old, women, children, men) marched towards the forest with drum and trumpet and also have banner with a message like -
“Chop me - not the tree.”
and
“Kill us first, before you cut a single tree.”
Q.5. What is the work of "Dasohli Gram Swarajya Mandal"?
Ans. - To regenerate the degraded forests is the work of "Dasohli Gram Swarajya Mandal"
B) Say whether the following statements are True or False:
1. Trees were being saved by the contractors. [ False ]
2. In 1953, a group of people from a factory arrived at the village of Gopeshwar. [ False ]
3. ‘Chipko’ or ‘Hug the trees’ was a non-violent movement of the mountain people to save their trees. [ True ]
4. Dasohli Gram Swarajya Mandal is an organisation to regenerate the degraded forests. [ True ]
5. Chipko Movement proved very valuable in the conservation of forests. [ True ]
Let's Learn
Read the following sentences carefully.
A) Look at Reena. She is studying. Mother and father have come to see her. They are glad to see her studying . She is also glad to see them.
Now fill in the blanks with suitable pronouns.
A) Look at Reena. She is studying. Mother and father have come to see her. They are glad to see her studying . She is also glad to see them.
Leena was on her annual visit to her uncle's house. She always enjoyed it because was allowed to spend most of the day down at the mango grove.
Reena's uncle was a friend of the man who owned the grove and always gave mangoes at a special rate. This year aunt joined , and together they set off across the fields to the grove. The branches of the trees were covered with fruits, and so bowed down with the weight that almost touched the ground. spent hours picking the fruits eating most of and sleeping in the shade.
Ans . Leena was on her annual visit to her uncle's house. She always enjoyed it because she was allowed to spend most of the day down at the mango grove.
Reena's uncle was a friend of the man who owned the grove and he always gave mangoes at a special rate. This year her aunt joined it, and together they set off across the fields to the grove. The branches of the trees were covered with fruits, and so bowed down with the weight that they almost touched the ground. They spent hours picking the fruits eating most of them and sleeping in the shade.
B) The Past Perfect Tense is used to indicate an action which was completed before or after another action in the past. Read the following sentences carefully to understand this.
1. The train had left before I arrived.
2. I had finished my work before you came.
3. I had answered all the questions before the bell rang.
Use the words given in the box in the blanks below to make the Past Perfect Tense.
run, stop, died, reach, land
1. Harry before the doctor came.
2. The rain before you arrived.
3. I the school before the bell rang.
4. There was a storm after the plane .
5. The thief away before the police came.
Ans. -
1. Harry had died before the doctor came.
2. The rain had stopped before you arrived.
3. I had reached the school before the bell rang.
4. There was a storm after the plane had landed.
5. The thief had run away before the police came.
Let's Talk
Look at the picture given below carefully -
Imagine you went to a park for a morning walk. Your friends wanted to know about your visit. The answers you gave are given below. Frame the questions related to the answers.
Q.1 Where did you go ?
Ans. I went for a morning walk.
Q.2 Who did go with you ?
Ans. My mother and sister went with me.
Q.3 What did you see there ?
Ans. We saw a large number of people and children there.
Q.4 What were they doing ?
Ans. Some were walking about, some were reading newspapers. Some were playing, children were dancing and some of them were laughing.
Q.5 When did you come back?
Ans. We came back at 9 o'clock.
Q.6 Did you enjoy there ?
Ans. Yes, we enjoyed and returned home full of energy.
Let's Read
Read the following notice which the Cultural Secretary of Vallabh Bhai School put up on his school noticeboard and answer the questions given below:
Vallabh Bhai School, Bhopal
Notice
Tree Plantation Ceremony
A tree plantation ceremony will be held in the school premises on 15th Oct. 2006. Students are invited to participate in this ceremony with wholehearted cooperation to make it a grand success. A minimum of five plants should be contributed by each class. We intend to give a green and clean environment to the school.
Anurag
Cultural Secretary
A) Fill in the blanks.
1. Anurag has put up a ________ on his school noticeboard.
2. Anurag is the _______ secretary of Vallabh Bhai School.
Ans. –
1. Anurag has put up a notice on his school noticeboard.
2. Anurag is the Cultural secretary of Vallabh Bhai School.
B) Answer the following questions:
Q.1. Which ceremony was being held at Vallabh Bhai School?
Ans. – The tree ceremony was being held at Vallabh Bhai School.
Q.2. How many plants are to be contributed by each class?
Ans. – A minimum of 5 plants are to be contributed by each class.
Q.3. Write the name and designation of the student who has written the notice?
Ans. – Anurag has written the notice. He is the Cultural Secretary of the school.
Q.4. Which word in the notice has the meaning ‘complete and enthusiastic’?
Ans. – The meaning of the word, - “ whole hearted” is ‘complete and enthusiastic’.
Let's Write
Imagine you are Anu/Anurag. You live at 403, D. K. Rainbow, Chunna Bhatti, Bhopal. One day you saw some people cutting a green, flourishing tree near your house. It appeared that they had some commercial purpose behind it. You were sad to see this. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper complaining against the cutting of trees, with the help of guidelines given in the box.