Activist GD Agarwal, on indefinite fast to save Ganga, dies in Rishikesh

RISHIKESH/NEW DELHI: Veteran Environmental activist GD Agarwal died at a Rishikesh hospital on Thursday, 111 days after he began a fast for a pollutionfree Ganga. He was 86.
Agarwal, who began his hunger strike on June 22 demanding government measures to save the Ganga, died of a heart attack at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh, its director Ravi Kant said.

The activist was admitted to hospital on Wednesday after he even gave up water. Local authorities imposed section 144 of t h e C r P C , which bans the assembly of people, around the venue of the protest and he was picked up and taken to hospital.

Dr Ravi Kant said Agarwal suffered from hernia, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease and the fast worsened his condition.

G D Agarwal, also known as Swami Gyanswaroop Sanand in his later years, had been a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and served on the Central Pollution Control Board. He was protesting against hydroelectric projects on the Ganga’s tributaries and had demanded a law to protect the river.

Earlier, he had rejected a plea from Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to end the fast, following assurances on his demands from the Centre.