Pune: For over 60 days residents of Kalyani Nagar and green activists have been on a chain hunger strike to save the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and to pay homage to Prof GD Agarwal, who laid down his life to save Ganga river. However, the plan to construct a road and the metro rail route through the sanctuary is still on.
From October 18, on the occasion of Dussehra, a group of activists started an agitation to highlight the environmental issues in the locality, district, State, nation and around the world.
Each person in the group would fast for a day from midnight to midnight. Till date, 111 people have participated in the chain fast.
Dharamraj Patil, an ornithologist and environmentalist, who observed the fast on October 19, said, “Today is the 65th day of the chain fasting. Now, we are building a force to address environmental problems. Earlier, it was only for the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary but now we have expanded our horizon. The sanctuary will of course be the main action plan but other environmental problems will also be raised.”
Niranjan Upasani, an activist, said, ”We have started this agitation for three causes: to pay homage to GD Agarwal; in solidarity with the protection of trees in Aarey Colony, Goregaon, and for the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Yerawada.”
“Now, this stir is gaining momentum as people are also raising other environmental issues. We are surely trying to make the government understand that people are worried about the green cover,” he said.
Former Miss World and actress Yukta Mukhi said, “The fast was a very liberating experience for me as I am learning several things about the environment, which I was earlier unaware about. People are joining the agitation with their own environmental causes, including cleaning drives and to save the Pavana and Indrayani rivers. We hope that there will be a positive change.”
