Engineer turns activist to save river

New Delhi: It's a river he has grown up with and Ravi cannot take enough of the Yamuna dying a slow death.

For years now, Ravi Agarwal has captured the ebb and flow of the Yamuna, and been part of a larger campaign to save what's left of it.

Almost a decade ago, Ravi Agarwal decided to change tracks mid-way in his career, from full-time engineer, he turned full-time environmental activist.

His activism might have been sparked off by the degradation of the Delhi Ridge and Yamuna, but Ravi's agenda soon moved beyond those causes.

He set up Toxics Links in 1996 that now focuses on research and advocacy in the area of urban environmental health, specifically waste management in India's metros.

"It was relating to what was happening and several issues around you are toxic related – air pollution, water pollution, solid waste and hazardous waste. The core of all this is the toxic issue," Ravi informs.

The statistics are startling - Delhi alone generates 6000 metric tonnes of solid waste everyday and almost 8500 tonnes of bio-medical waste every year.

And safe disposal of this waste, especially of hazardous medical waste, is a challenge. It is Ravi's pet project.

He lobbied for a policy rethink on waste management and in 1998 the central government passed a comprehensive legislation and put in place strict guideline especially for hospitals.

But Ravi admits that implementation is a problem area and managing municipal waste is a challenge yet to be cracked.

"People are not doing what they meant to be doing. They are meant to be segregating the waste at home, being conscious of what they throw, asking for products with less packaging so they have less waste to dispose," Ravi says.

"At the other level, the city does not know what to do with the waste," he adds.

There's much cleaning up to do if we are to breathe easy in the city and Ravi is looking to rope in partners to meet the challenge.

Keeping him company on his journey is the river that remains his first love.