GD Agarwal, a former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and a man who devoted his life to the cause of saving river Ganga, died today. Agarwal was on a fast-unto-death for the last 111 days.
He is notable for a number of fasts undertaken to stop many projects on River Ganga. The man, who gave his life saving the river, once told British daily Guardian "This water is not ordinary water to a Hindu. It is a matter of the life and death of the Hindu faith."
HERE ARE SOME FACTS ABOUT THE GANGA WARRIOR
GD Agarwal was born to a farming family in Uttar Pradesh in 1932.
He went on to obtain a degree in civil engineering from the University of Roorkee, now known as IIT Roorkee.
He later obtained a PhD in environmental engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
He was the first member secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board during 1979-80, a time when he was also a visiting faculty member at IIT Roorkee.
He was formerly also the head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at IIT Kanpur.
Agarwal was a vocal critic of the hydroelectric projects planned on the river Bhagirathi, for which he went on fast on multiple occasions.
He first went on fast in 2009, protesting against the Loharinag Pala Hydro Power Project, coming close to death on the 36th day -- forcing the government to suspend the dam construction, which finally resulted in him ending his fast.
In 2011, he renounced material pursuits and became a sanyasi. He took on the name Swami Gyanswaroop Sanand.
Dissatisfied with the ineffectiveness of the National Ganges River Basin Authority, an authority set up by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh for cleaning the Ganga, Agarwal once again sat on an indefinite fast in 2013.