GD Agarwal lived and died to awaken the collective conscience for the Ganga.
India lost her true Gangaputra, Swami Sanand, also known as Dr G D Agrawal, on October 11, the 112th day of his fast-unto-death seeking effective action from the Government of India for the conservation and protection of the Ganga.
GD, as many affectionately addressed him, was a good and rare human being. Dressed in ordinary khadi, before he took sanyas in 2011, his appearance belied his logical mind, formidable knowledge and high accomplishments. He began his career in the 1950s as a design engineer with UP’s irrigation department, rose to head the environmental engineering department at IIT-Kanpur, was the first member-secretary of India’s Central Pollution Control Board and a member of numerous official committees for setting policies and regulatory mechanisms to improve India’s environmental quality.
GD epitomised simple living and high thinking. A greater part of his last 25 years were spent in Chitrakoot, where he became an honorary professor at the Mahatma Gandhi Grameen Vishwavidyalaya. This eminent scientist swept his own floors, washed his clothes and cooked his meals in a spartan 200-sq ft cottage. A bicycle, an ordinary state transport bus or second-class train compartment were his preferred modes of transportation.
A former IIT-K student described GD as “India’s first technically qualified environmentalist”. After graduating in civil engineering from the University of Roorkee (now IIT-Roorkee), GD obtained an MS and PhD in environmental engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. At heart, GD was an activist. He was more attracted to experimenting with possible solutions rather than theorising. Over the years he mentored many young development activists. The more well-known ones include Dunu Roy (IIT-Bombay, ‘67), who first headed the Indian branch of FREA, set up the innovative Vidushak Karkhana and later, The Hazards Centre, New Delhi; Anil Agrawal (IIT-Kanpur,’70) founder of Centre for Science & Environment and waterman Rajendra Singh.
Please click here to read more.