Pledges to Save Mahan Forest at Raksha Bandhan Festival in India

Women from local villages walk towards the Mahan forest to mark a protest on Raksha Bandhan.
In a pledge to save the Mahan forests of Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, from coal mining, people from across 10 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, sent over 8,900 rakhis (sacred threads) to the forest dwelling communities of Mahan forests. Over 1,000 community members including a large number of women and children from about 24 villages of the region braved heavy rains and tied the rakhis to a giant Mahua tree in Mahan forests on Sunday. These Rakhis were made by 98 volunteers from across 10 cities in India.

Unique identifier: GP0STOITR

Type: Image

Shoot date: 10/08/2014

Locations: Asia, India, Madhya Pradesh, Mahan Forest, Singrauli region

Credit line: © Avik Roy / Greenpeace

Size: 5184px × 3456px 9MB

Ranking: ★★★★ (E)

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Pledges to Save Mahan Forest at Raksha Bandhan Festival in India

In a pledge to save the Mahan forests of Singrauli, from coal mining, people from across 10 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, sent over 8,900 rakhis to the forest dwelling communities of Mahan forests. Over 1,000 community members including a large number of women and children from about 24 villages of the region braved heavy rains and tied the rakhis to a giant Mahua tree in Mahan forests. These Rakhis were made by 98 volunteers from across 10 cities in India.
Giving a new meaning to a festival that traditionally symbolizes a brother vowing to protect his sister in return for a rakhi (a sacred thread on his wrist), 10 Mumbaikars prepared and tied a 54-foot-long rakhi as a symbol of the 54 villages in Mahan that stand to lose their livelihoods if the forest is cut down.

Related Collections:

Mahan Fight in India (All Photographers)

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