A rationalist who brought science to activism

GD AGRAWAL WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR HIS WORK TO ENSURE A POLLUTIONFREE AND FREEFLOWING GANGA

NEW DELHI: GD Agrawal was a rationalist who brought science to activism, say environmentalists about his tireless efforts to save the Ganga. An environmental engineering professor turned activist, he will be remembered for his work to ensure a pollution-free and free-flowing Ganga.

“His death is a great loss for the movement for conservation of Ganga. For over one-and-ahalf decade, he brought his knowledge to conservation effort. He even wrote a draft law that could be adopted by the government for the protection of the river,” said Himanshu Thakker, coordinator, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), an online com- munity working on environmental issues related to rivers.

“We need more academicians like him to speak up for the causes they believe in and bring the science to it,” he said.

Agrawal died in a Rishikesh hospital on Thursday on the 112th day of a hunger strike demanding a law to save the Ganga. He was a professor of environmental engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and as the first member-secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board shaped India’s pollution control regulatory bodies before he started working full time to conserve the Ganga.

Without him, the Ganga would have lost its flow, say fellow activists.

“It was his protest in 2009 that highlighted the issue of the bumper to bumper damming project on Bhagirathi. Without him, there would not be any pristine flow of Ganga left anywhere,” said Mallika Bhanot, member of Ganga Ahvaan, a non-governmental organisation.

And, the ecological costs are higher. “Ecologically, when a dam is being constructed, there is massive deforestation, making the landslide zones further vulnerable. And, once it is constructed, as we saw in the case of the 2013 flash flood in Kedarnath, the damages were quadrupled because of the huge sediments that got stuck in the barrage in two under construction dams,” she said.

It was because of his effort that a 120-km eco-sensitive zone was created.

This fast-unto-death was his call to the government to take the action they had promised for the preservation and rejuvenation of Ganga.

“He wrote to the Prime Minister demanding him to make good on his promises of conserving Ganga. His demands were to stop all the under-construction and planned dams on upper Ganga, create a law to protect the river and create a committee of people who care for the river that will oversee all projects on the river. And, the government did not really respond to his call,” said Thakker.