Activist GD Agarwal, on fast for 114 days for a clean Ganga, dies in Rishikesh

The IITian-turned seer Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand alias Prof GD Agarwal (87) breathed his last at AIIMS Rishikesh. He was on a hunger strike in a bid to urge the government to clean river Ganga.

According to the doctors, Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand died because of weakness and a heart attack. On Tuesday, October 9, Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand after failing to reach any conclusions during the talks with MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, gave up water. The police forcefully arrested Swaroop Sanand from Maitri Sadan on Wednesday, October 10 and he was admitted to AIIMS Rishikesh.

He had begun his fast on June 22 in the Matri Sadan ashram in Haridwar, demanding a law that will protect River Ganga, maintain its uninterrupted flow in its natural form between Gangotri to Uttarkashi and keep the river clean.

Swami Gyan Swaroop was once a professor at IIT Kanpur. The PhD holder in environmental engineering from the University of California at Berkeley has also served as a Member-Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

An environmental activist for decades, he formally became a 'swami' in 2011 at the age 79. Even before that he had undertaken a number of fasts for environmental causes, the most notable being 2009 fast demanding to stop the construction of dams on the Bhagirathi River.