Sunderlal Bahuguna

Born in of village Maroda near Tehri, Uttrakhand on 9th January 1927, he is a noted Garhwali environmentalist and the leader of the chipko movement which was initially his wife’s idea but was taken into action by him. He was one of the early environmentalists of India.

He fought for years for the preservation of the Himalayas as a member of the chipko movement and later spearheaded the Anti-TEHRI dam movement starting the 1980s, to early 2004. In 1995, he called off a 45-day-long fast following an assurance from the Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao of the appointment of a review committee on the ecological impacts of the dam. Eventually, the dam reservoir started filling up in 2004, and on 31 July 2004, he was finally evacuated to a new accommodation at Koti. Later he shifted to the capital city of Uttrakhand, Dehradun, and is currently living there with his wife

He started social activities at the age of thirteen, under the guidance of Shri dev Suman, who was a nationalist spreading message of non-violence and he was with the Congress party of Uttar Pradesh (India) at the time of Independence. He adopted Gandhian principles in his life and married his wife Vimla with the condition that they would live among rural people and establish an ashram in the village.

He won several awards like:

· 1981: Padma Shri Award by Government of India, but he refused it.

· 1987: Right Livelihood Award

· 1986: Jamnalal Bajaj award for constructive work.

· 1989: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Sciences was conferred by IIT Roorkee

· 2009: Padma Vibushan Award by the government of India for environment conservation