Basanti Devi – The Environmentalist Behind Saving The Kosi River

She was initially tasked with opening Bal Baris that were active centres of recreation for children and young adults. She started opening them in remote villages that also took care of the children’s education and nutrition. Devi read an article on how the Kosi River (the most important water resource for Uttarakhand) may cease to exist in a few decades due to the rapid felling of trees by local women. These local women were from poor households who had no access to any other source of firewood so Devi ji encouraged them to not cut trees but use the dry ones for fuel and firewood. She organised them into small groups that were aimed to save the Kosi River, this helped both empower women as well as save the environment. She also protested and fought against the forest department for cutting big trees. Although the results have taken time to manifest, springs that used to dry up in the summer are now active all year. Additionally, the forest exhibits greater diversity thanks to the appearance of more broad-leaved trees including oak, rhododendron, and myrica esculenta species.