THRISSUR: Environmental and social activist Latha Anantha, who carried out the crusade against the proposed Athirappilly dam project, died on Thursday after fighting a long battle with cancer, at her house in Ollur here. She was 51. Latha was the director of the Chalakudy River Research Centre and a member of the Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshan Samithi.It was her association with the campaign against the Athirappilly project which shot her into the limelight. She also served on several government-appointed committees in Kerala and was resource person for countless programmes on rivers and forests. She also served as the South Asia Advisor, International Rivers and was the Ashoka Fellow, 2012.
An agricultural scientist with a doctorate, Latha could have easily settled for a lucrative government salary and a normal life. However, a nature camp in Silent Valley in 1989 changed her entire perspective towards the environment, rivers and the people dependent on it and evoked an ardent interest in her on the need to protect them.
While she was actively involved in many programmes, it was her association with the campaign against the Athirappilly project which brought her into the limelight.
After learning of the government’s plans, Latha with her husband Unnikrishnan, thoroughly studied the project and found several anomalies, even the fact that the government hid several aspects related to constructing the dam for securing the approval from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Her intervention via her meeting with then Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh led to stopping of the work.
“Deeply disturbed by the exploitation of the river and the natural resources in the name of development, Latha entered a long legal struggle in close association with people and developed a strong team to fight for protecting the river, the forest, the tribals and people dependent on it,” said Kusumam Joseph, social activist and coordinator of National Alliance for People’s Movement.
Latha was closely associated with Kadar, tribals of Chalakudy, and also took interest in their welfare.
“She was an authority and source of knowledge of rivers. She saw life in every river and related it with various characters. Her efforts ignited the consciousness of people, politicians and authorities against the Athirappilly project and created a movement. Thanks to her efforts, the project is a closed chapter now. Her name will always be etched with the struggle,” said Geetha a member of the tribe and their leader who fought against the dam at Athirappilly.
‘A woman of strength’
Social activist Medha Patkar of Narmada Bachao Andolan, with who Latha was closely associated and actively involved against the development of huge dams in the country, expressed her condolence on Latha’s demise. “She fought for all rivers and nature with scientific and emotional involvement till her last breath. She was a woman of strength, wisdom and vision. She was needed the most today when fake campaigns for rivers with corporate support are in the air,” Patkar said. She also appealed to the state government to cancel and stop encroachments upon Chalakudy and rivers as a tribute to Latha. She also played an active role in ‘Save Western Ghats Movement’ group.
‘I am pained, anguished’
“I am pained and anguished to learn of her demise. I knew she had been suffering for a while. But the fighter she was, I was confident she would pull through. Sadly, that was not to be,” said Ramesh. “I owe my interest and involvement in the Athirappilly project since 2009, to her. She was a deeply committed and passionate environmentalist. I salute her accomplishments,” he said.
Focus on children
Latha was very close to children, who she considered change-makers of future. Despite being busy and later ill, she took time to educate them. In an interview to a website, she also said the problem was people did not have a sense of belonging to a place any more. “We are alienated from nature. That’s why I have been interacting with students for 25 years. It’s very important we instil the sense of connection to nature in children at a young age,” she had said. On Thursday morning, several eminent people, including, MLAs V T Balram, K Rajan and B D Devassy, activist Sara Joseph, environmentalist V S Vijayan and others arrived at her house to pay homage.