PM calls minister Dave’s death a ‘personal loss’
FAREWELL The 60yearold had been unwell since January this year
Union environment minster Anil Madhav Dave passed away in the national capital on Thursday morning. He was 60.
Cardiac specialists at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) tried to resuscitate him for more than an hour before declaring him dead around 9:45am.
Dave, a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009, was sworn in as a minister with independent charge of environment, forest and climate change last year. He was reportedly unwell since January this year and was also not attending office.
“The minister is unwell and has not been coming to office on a regular basis. We brief him at his residence,” a senior environment ministry official told HT on Wednesday.
Dave was rushed to the cardiology department around 9am after he complained of uneasiness, shortness of breath, and chest pain. “He was brought straight to the cardio-thorasic tower 2 at the hospital and admitted into the cardiac care unit (CCU), which is the Intensive Care Unit for cardiac emergencies,” said a source in the hospital, requesting anonymity.
“Doctors tried hard to revive him but his condition kept on deteriorating,” said the source.
Dave was under the care of Dr Gautam Sharma, professor in the department of cardiology.
His body was taken from the AIIMS mortuary to the department of anatomy for embalming. It will be flown to his home town Indore later for the last rites.
AIIMS released an official statement that said Dave was brought in a state of cardiac arrest. “All possible measures were taken immediately but he could not survive and was declared dead around 9.45 am.”
His death was condoled by senior politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said he was in a meeting with Dave on Wednesday evening and described the demise as a “personal loss”.
“Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment,” he tweeted.
Born in Barnagar in Madhya Pradesh, Dave was an RSS member since childhood. His first major political assignment was as an adviser to then MP chief minister Uma Bharti in 2004.
He then went into political oblivion for sometime as Bharti was replaced by Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He started working on environment-related issues on Narmada in MP and Gujarat and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2009. Those close to him said Modi was impressed with Dave’s organisation of a seminar on Hinduism and rivers at an event during 2015 Ujjain Kumbh.
A few months later, Dave was nominated as environment minister, replacing Prakash Javadekar. From the start, the minister had shown his disdain for civil society activists and had told HT that “he will not talk with those who give speeches sitting in air-conditioned offices”.
As environment minister, Dave had fastened approval of India’s first river-linking project Ken-Betwa falling in UP and MP.