Indian Environmentalist Bags Magsaysay Award

Indian environmental activist Mahesh Chander Mehta yesterday won this years prestigious Ramon Magsaysay prize for his staunch efforts to protect the countrys environment, the award foundation announced in Manila.

Mehta has been selected for the award, one of the top political and diplomatic prizes given in Asia, for public service for his claiming for Indias present and future citizens their constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, the Manila-based private foundation said in a statement.

He will receive the award, given in five categories with a cash prize of 50,000 dollars each, on August 31 in Manila.

A leading Supreme Court lawyer, Mehta, has been cited for his environmental conservation campaigns through the Indian courts and his contribution to the enactment of laws punishing polluters.

 

Other Indian recipients of the award, named after a former Philippine president, in the past included former Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan, senior police officer Kiran Bedi, Swadhyay movement leader Pandurang Shastri Athavale, environmentalist Vandana Shiva, columnist and writer Arun Shourie, gynaecologist Dr Bannocoyaji and late film director Satyajit Ray.

The foundation noted the crusading environmentalists staunch efforts which began in 1984 when he campaigned for the preservation of the Taj Mahal which was being affected by effluents from nearby industries.

For more than 10 years, he pursued the case, the citation to Mehta read. The Supreme Court responded to his efforts by banning coal-based industries around the world-famous monument and ordering the installation of effluent treatment devices.

Mehtas persistence also won damages for the victims of a 1985 gas leak in Bhopal, the relocation of 9,000 industries away from New Delhi, the protection of the Capitals remaining forest and the building of 16 new sewerage treatment plants, it said. His other campaigns led to the compulsory introduction of lead-free petrol in Indias four largest cities and the installation of sewerage plants in 250 towns and cities in the Ganges basin, the citation added.

These victories have required years of singleminded exertion. By working 18 hours a day, Mehta manages with a tiny staff and the fervent support of his wife and daughter, the citation said.

He faces constant harassment and even threats to his life, it added. Other winners of this year are yet to be announced in three other categories, the foundation said. Last week, the foundation named former Thai Prime Minister Anand Payarachun as its 1997 awardee for government service.