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As Sonam Wangchuk sits at an indefinite hunger strike, we remember a 111-day fast by environmentalist G.D. Agrawal demanding clean Ganga.
G.D. Agrawal was an environmental activist and former IIT professor who became a seer known as Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand.
His scientific and spiritual background shaped his beliefs that prompted him to sit on an indefinite hunger strike for clean Ganga, which ended with his death in Haridwar.
SONAM WANGCHUK, an engineer and activist, continues his indefinite hunger strike at Delhi's Jantar Mantar in a protest organized by Cockroach Janta Party, demanding resignation from the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over mismanagement in the NEET and CUET exams. The struggles of the Ladakhi activist has brought back memories of another protest that ended in a tragedy eight years ago. It was one of India's most respected environmental activists, former IIT professor G.D. Agrawal, who was also sat on an indefinite hunger strike that span for nearly four months. His demand was to have a clean Ganga, which he believed was dying as the governments had failed to protect it despite repeated promises.
The professor-turned-seer spent more than 111 days on hunger strike, surviving only on honey mixed with water for months. In the final stage of his protest, he even stopped drinking water, saying he would rather die than compromise on his demands. But his plea fell on deaf ears.
On October 11, 2018, Agrawal died at the age of 86 at AIIMS Rishikesh after suffering a cardiac arrest. His death shocked environmentalists across the country and raised uncomfortable questions about whether one man's sacrifice had gone unheard and what does it take for the government to listen to the voice of the public.
Long before he became known as Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, Guru Das Agrawal had built a career as an engineer and environmental expert.
He started his professional journey in the 1950s as a design engineer in the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department. During that period, he also worked on aspects of the Tehri Dam project. Ironically, that experience later shaped his strong opposition to large hydropower projects in the Himalayan region.
Agrawal went on to join the Civil Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur as a professor, teaching the new generation of engineers. He was widely respected, not just in academic circles but also within government institutions.
He also became the first Member-Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), playing an important role in shaping India's environmental regulation during its early years. That years of expertise made Agrawal unlike most activists as his arguments were backed by decades of scientific research. He repeatedly warned that excessive dam construction, diversion of river water, unchecked mining, and pollution were destroying the Ganga's natural flow. According to him, the holy river would not survive if its water was treated merely as a resource for power generation and irrigation.
However, over time, he realised scientific reports alone were not enough to prompt government action. In 2011, he took sanyas (renunciating worldly desires) in Varanasi under Swami Avimukteshwaranand and adopted the name Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand. His journey was marked by the belief that while science explained him the Ganga needed protection, faith could unite millions behind that cause.
Agrawal’s fast in 2018 wasn’t his first one. For nearly a decade before his death, hunger strikes had become his primary weapon for pressuring the government. His first major fast came in Uttarkashi in 2008, which ended after authorities assured him that a committee would be formed to examine issues concerning the Ganga. However, it was his second fast in Delhi in January 2009 that finally led to the formation of the National Ganga River Basin Authority.
But Swami Gyan Swaroop’s fight wasn’t over yet. The following year, he again sat on an indefinite fast at Matri Sadan Ashram in Haridwar. This time, his demands focused on stopping hydropower projects that he believed were choking the holy river. Eventually, the government agreed to halt or review projects including Loharinag Pala, Maneri, and Bhairon Ghati.
His efforts also contributed to the declaration of the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone, one of the few concrete environmental gains achieved during his long campaign. These victories not only resulted in official actions but also strengthened his belief that peaceful fasting could force governments to listen
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On June 22, 2018, Agrawal once again began an indefinite fast at Matri Sadan in Haridwar. This time, he directly questioned the Narendra Modi government's handling of the Ganga despite the announcement of an ambitious Namami Gange programme. He reminded the promises government had made after Narendra Modi was elected from Varanasi in 2014, saying those commitments had not been fulfilled.
For almost four months, till October 2018, Agrawal survived only on honey mixed with water and sometimes lemon water. Throughout the protest, he continued writing letters and issuing appeals, demanding stricter action against illegal mining, sand extraction, hydropower projects, and activities that disrupted the river's natural flow.
Over the months, Agrawal’s health worsened, and ministers including Uma Bharti and Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank met him. They appealed to him to end the fast, but Agrawal refused. On October 9 and 10, he announced that he would stop consuming even water, saying, "My fast will end with my death.” And the words unfortunately came true.
On October 10, 2018, local authorities shifted Agrawal to AIIMS Rishikesh against his wishes. Videos from that day showed the frail professor resisting as police carried him into an ambulance. Doctors found him suffering from several serious medical complications, including severe dehydration, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and other age-related illnesses, all made worse by prolonged starvation.
The next day, October 11, he suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died in the hospital. According to reports, a letter written by Agrawal on the morning of his death allowed doctors to administer potassium if required and thanked them for supporting what he described as his "tapasya" for saving the Ganga.
Agrawal's death triggered protests outside AIIMS Rishikesh by his followers, who accused authorities of failing to save him and demanded public viewing of his body.
AIIMS Director Professor Ravi Kant rejected allegations of foul play and murder, saying that the body had already been donated to the hospital and there was no question of holding a public event inside the medical institution. G.D. Agrawal’s cousin Ashwani Agarwal, who was among those allowed to see the body, later said there was no evidence of any conspiracy and that Agrawal had remained conscious until shortly before suffering the cardiac arrest.
The government maintained that it had made every possible effort to save him. Around the same period, it also notified minimum ecological flow norms for the Ganga and continued work on a proposed Ganga law. However, several of Agrawal's larger demands, including stronger authority for river protection, were never fully accepted.
For many environmentalists, G.D. Agrawal's story is not just about one protest. It is about a scientist who spent decades studying rivers, entered government to improve environmental regulation, became a monk to reach ordinary people, and finally sacrificed his own life believing that the Ganga deserved better.
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