Vimla Bahuguna, who spent a lifetime defending India’s forests, empowering women, and championing the rights of the poor, died on February 14th, at the age of 93. Her passing, four years after that of her husband, the renowned environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, marks the gentle passing of a woman whose work was neither loud nor self-promotional but foundational to some of India’s most consequential social movements.
Born into a well-regarded family in Tehri, in what is now Uttarakhand, she eschewed the comforts of urban life in favor of grassroots activism. Inspired by Sarla Behn, an Englishwoman-turned-Gandhian, she joined the Sarvodaya movement, a vision of upliftment for all, and threw herself into the Bhoodan Movement in Bihar in the early 1950s. Led by Vinoba Bhave, this campaign sought to persuade landowners to voluntarily donate land to the landless. Where Bhave spoke of moral duty, Vimla Bahuguna worked on the ground—ensuring that women and Dalits were not forgotten in the land distribution, teaching children, and organizing village women to take control of their own lives.
Marriage to Sunderlal Bahuguna did not make her a mere companion to a famous man. Rather, it cemented a partnership of struggle. While he became the face of India’s environmental movement, it was she who made their activism sustainable. She chose the hardship of a rural ashram over the easier life of a politician’s wife, insisted that her husband leave politics for social service, and managed their home in Silyara while also leading movements of her own. Their shared commitment to nonviolent resistance and environmental advocacy defined their lives, and together, they became the backbone of India’s ecological consciousness.
She was instrumental in mobilizing women for the Chipko Movement in the 1970s, a campaign that made tree-hugging a global symbol of resistance. While men were away seeking work, it was the women, under her steadfast but firm leadership, who encircled the trees with their bodies to prevent their felling. These same women would later rally under her guidance to oppose liquor shops that preyed on impoverished villagers, and to resist the construction of the Tehri Dam, a battle ultimately lost but one that shaped India’s discourse on large-scale development projects. She believed that protecting the environment was inseparable from protecting people’s livelihoods, particularly those of women and marginalized communities, who bore the brunt of ecological destruction.
Vimla Bahuguna’s role in the Tehri Dam resistance went beyond protest; she helped coordinate legal efforts, mobilized public support, and kept the issue alive when others had moved on. She remained firm even when faced with intimidation, advocating for sustainable development that did not come at the cost of uprooting entire communities. Despite the eventual construction of the dam, her efforts brought international attention to the environmental costs of such projects, influencing future policies and grassroots movements.
Her work extended into rural education and self-sufficiency initiatives. She taught village women economic independence by training them in sustainable agriculture, handicrafts, and cooperative businesses. Long before feminism became a mainstream movement in India, she was ensuring that women had the means to stand on their own. Many of the women she mentored would go on to become activists themselves, carrying forward her legacy in new ways.
Unlike many activists who sought the limelight, Vimla Bahuguna worked quietly, often in the shadows of better-known figures. Yet those who knew her understood her influence. It was she who anchored her husband’s activism, she who kept communities engaged long after campaigns ended, and she who ensured that struggles did not dissolve into momentary acts of resistance but transformed into sustained social movements.
Her legacy is not that of grand awards or political power but of unshaken principle. She lived austerely, believed in the strength of collective action, and placed her faith in ordinary people. If today India’s environmental consciousness has roots in its villages, much of the credit belongs to Vimla Bahuguna, who ensured that the movements she helped build did not wither when the media’s gaze moved elsewhere. Her passing is the loss of a resolute, unshakable force, one who asked for little but gave much.
She leaves behind a generation of activists who owe their resolve to her example. The forests she fought for still stand, the women she empowered continue to organize, and the principles she lived by remain relevant in a world increasingly grappling with the consequences of environmental neglect. Her life was a testament to the idea that true change does not come from rhetoric, but from years of patient, unyielding effort—work that she carried forward until the very end.
Header images from Sepia Eye
