Chainani, 68, founder of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) who succumbed to cancer in Mumbai last Saturday, made a pan-India impact on ecological conservation in his lifetime.
Green activist Shyam Chainani, 68, founder of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) who succumbed to cancer in Mumbai last Saturday, made a pan-India impact on ecological conservation in his lifetime.
Speaking to DNA, Gautam Patel, senior Bombay high court lawyer and BEAG advisory board member said, “Shyam was a one-man army. If it were not for him, India’s coastline would have been in grave danger. Thanks to his relentless efforts of over 10 years, the government agreed to incorporate the CRZ rules.”
According to Patel, Chainani undertook the task of following up with the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and securing the eco-sensitive zone status for the hill stations of Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Matheran. “This was almost revolutionary work. Shyam made multiple trips to Delhi to achieve this success.”
Chainani travelled the length and breadth of India’s cantonment network and brought in restrictions on building activity.
Pune-based lawyer Netraprakash Bhog told DNA that Chainani’s relentless research in the early 1980s resulted in new FSI byelaws being incorporated by an act of parliament in 1986. This resulted in the revised 0.5 FSI for residential areas and 1 FSI for commercial establishments in Indian cantonments.
Dev Mehta, former Pune municipal commissioner and chairman of the Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani High Level monitoring committee told DNA: “Chainani was a selfless crusader for the cause of environmental and heritage conservation. He was undoubtedly the Father of Heritage of conservation in India. He was a practical man who methodically drafted rules and regulations to govern heritage conservation.”
Similar tributes were paid by Dr Farokh Wadia, Pune based physician and member BEAG. Wadia told DNA, “Shyam was an iconic crusader. It was based on his writ petition of 1997 that the Bombay High Court directed the state government to form the Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani heritage conservation committee. This has resulted in not only man-made sites, but also at least 30 natural heritage sites getting protected.”
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