Environment, river activist Manoj Misra passes away at 68

Misra was an Indian Forest Service officer from the 1979 batch, who founded the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan (YJA) — a movement aimed at rejuvenating the river

Environmentalist and Yamuna activist Manoj Kumar Misra died in Bhopal on Sunday afternoon after a long battle with Covid-19. The 68-year-old was hospitalised due to the disease on April 10, suffered lung-damage, and was on the ventilator since April 19, those close to him said.

The 68-year-old was hospitalised due to the disease on April 10, suffered lung-damage, and was on the ventilator since April 19, those close to him said. (HT Photo)

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Born on October 7, 1954, Misra was an Indian Forest Service officer from the 1979 batch, working in the forest department for 22 years, before seeking voluntary retirement in 2001. He founded PEACE — an NGO dedicated to promoting the cause of nature conservation — in 2002, and also headed TRAFFIC India, a division of WWF-India, publishing over 100 articles in various magazines, journals and newspapers.

His contributions to the Yamuna came from 2007 onwards, when he founded the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan (YJA) — a movement aimed at rejuvenating the river.

Misra filed multiple petitions with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), with a January 13, 2015 NGT judgement titled ‘Mailey se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalization Project 2017’ being the most notable, asking for timelines to be fixed to clean up the river, and action from both the state and the Centre.

He also advocated for environmental flow in Indian rivers. “Rejuvenating Ganga — A Citizen’s Report”, which was released during India Rivers Week in 2019, put together an analysis of why the flow of most rivers in the Ganga basin are dwindling, and recommended that the Centre make environmental flows mandatory for the entire basin, and not just the main stem of the river.

Sudha Mohan, Misra’s former colleague-cum-manager, said he went to Bhopal in April after catching Covid-19, and was hospitalised on April 10. “He suffered lung damage and was on the ventilator since April 19. He breathed his last at 12.40pm on Sunday,” Mohan said.

Tributes for Misra poured in from across the political spectrum.

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena condoled his death, tweeting, “Shocked & pained at the untimely demise of Shri Manoj Misra Ji. He remained a warrior for the cause of Environment & a Son of River Yamuna, consistently striving for her revival. His passing away leaves us bereft of a valuable fellow traveler on path of rejuvenating Yamuna. (sic).”

Read here: Delhi LG hails bureaucrats for work on Yamuna, cleaning landfills

Terming his death “terrible news”, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “I worked with him on several issues long back before entering politics. He was a great person. He worked so much for Delhi’s environment. We all will miss him. God bless his soul.”

Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh wrote, “Deeply distressed to learn of the passing away of Manoj Misra, an indefatigable environmentalist. He was particularly passionate about the protection of rivers and spent much of his time on the revival of the Yamuna.”