Reiny village, from where started the famous Chipko movement to be shifted and rehabilitated to a safer location

The Reiny village situated in Chamoli district of Garhwal, Uttarakhand from where started the globally famous Chipko movement in 1973 by legendary Gaura Devi and her women colleagues is on the verge of disaster after its mountainous slopes were declared landslides prone, extremely dangerous for its inhabitants to live in especially during monsoon and being on earthquake zone as well.

This historic village which has a small museum of Gaura Devi and her statue, though in very bad shape with no attention paid by the successive state governments, was the victim of the glacial deluge that occured in Dhauli Ganga during the month of February after the cloud n glacial lake bursts creating havoc, claiming about 200 lives filling, some from Reiny village as well.

The tunnels of NTPC’s Vishnugaad hydrpower project were completely filled with muck, silt n stones in which several employees of the hydropower project died and some rescued after great efforts.

This massive deluge of february 7 has completely destroyed The NTPC Tapovan hydropower project worth about 12000 crores, thus also badly destabilising the Rainy village, not at all fit for living posing immense and direct threat to the villagers.

The geologists who have been assigned the responsibility by the state government under the Uttarakhand Disaster Recovery Initiative to study the possible dangers and risk factors involved due to the vulnerable geographical site of the Rainy village, have finally come to the conclusion that this village needs to be shifted to a safer place as the village is confronted with slope stability consequences that may further amount to massive landslides as the whole area is adversely affected by active subsidence due to down slopes, that may result in severe implications.

They have recommended to shift the village to a safer location as the massive flow of the river during the glacial burst in February and earlier as well have disturbed the slope completely untenable for the Reiny villagers to continue here, compelling the state government to permanently rehabilitate them to alternative safe location elsewhere.

It may be recalled that in 1973 a woman named Gaura Devi of Rainy village mobilised her few women colleagues against the then contractors who were given permission by the government to cut trees of this village by hugging the tree trunks warning them to first cut them, to proceed further. This unified struggle of Gaura Devi and her colleagues discouraged the contractors who had no option but to give away, finally compelling the government to implement the forest conservationists act prohibiting cutting of trees etc. Then journalist cum environment and Gandhian activist Sunderlal Bahuguna spread this movement further by sending his reports to various newspapers highlighting the just cause of these peacefully struggling women at village Rainy, finally making it an international movement.

In 1987 the Chipko movement was finally recognised as a symbol of forest conservation worldwide and awarded prestigious Rights Lively Wood award followed by several national n international prestigious recognitions.

pic : courtesy Right lively hood award