Environment Minister Anil Dave dead

NEW DELHI: Union Environment Minister Anil Dave, a committed environmentalist who had worked on green projects including conservation of the Narmada river, died here on Thursday morning following cardiac arrest. He was 61 and was a bachelor. Meena Agarwal, the wife of Dave’s family physician Bharat Agarwal, said that his family tried to wake him up in the morning but he appeared unconscious. He was rushed to the AIIMS at 9 am ”in a stage of cardiac arrest”, a hospital statement said.

“All possible measures were taken immediately at AIIMS, but he could not survive and (was) declared dead around 9.45 am,” the AIIMS statement said.

Dave hailed from Madhya Pradesh where he had done a stint as Minister of Environment. He was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on July 6, 2016 as Minister of State for Environment with independent charge.

He had worked on conservation projects including of the Narmada river and founded “Narmada Samagra” for the purpose.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in mourning the loss of Dave whom he had met only on Wednesday evening. They expressed shock over the sudden death.

Dave had not been well since January when he was diagnosed with pneumonia and had been feeling “badly weak” in the past few days, family sources said.

Dave, who began his political career during his college days in his home state of Madhya Pradesh, was a Rajya Sabha member since 2009. — IANS