Environmentalist and Chipko movement pioneer Sunderlal Bahuguna died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here on Friday after battling COVID-19 for several days. He was 94.
He breathed his last at 12.05 pm, AIIMS Director Ravikant said. Bahuguna, one of India's best-known environmentalists, was admitted to the hospital on May 8 after testing positive for the coronavirus. He had been critical since last night with his oxygen level dropping drastically. He was on CPAP therapy in the ICU of the premier hospital. Condoling the death, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat described it as a big loss not just for Uttarakhand and India but for the entire world. "It was he who made the Chipko movement a movement of the masses," Rawat said.
PM Narendra Modi tweeted, “Passing away of Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna Ji is a monumental loss for our nation. He manifested our centuries-old ethos of living in harmony with nature. His simplicity and spirit of compassion will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with his family and many admirers. Om Shanti."
-- With PTI inputs
