: Veteran environmentalist Indianur Gopi, known widely as the guardian angel of the Bharathapuzha because of his yeoman services in protecting the river ecosystem from rampant encroachments and deforestation, breathed his last at a private nursing home at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district during Friday noon. He was 84.
Ailing from various geriatric-related diseases, Mr. Gopi was admitted to the hospital for about a fortnight. Death knocked on his door at 1.30 p.m. Cremation will be held on the premises of his Adakkaputhur residence on Saturday morning.
Bharathapuzha’s advocate
Mr. Gopi spent the last four decades reminding all that the Bharathapuzha, a lifeline for 200-odd villages in Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram districts, must be protected ‘‘not just for environment but for the livelihood of several lakhs of people in the three districts.’’
Indianur Govinda Menon, alias Indianur Gopi, was president of Bharathapuzha Samrakshana Samithy, one of the first citizen initiatives for river protection in India. He led many an agitation against those factories on the banks which spewed effluents into the river.
A familiar face to the anti-Coca-Cola plant agitators at Plachimada, Mr. Gopi was active till he was hospitalised.
Political presence
Mr. Gopi, who joined politics at an early age, was first associated with the Students Congress, but switched loyalty to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. While studying at Government Arts College, Coimbatore, he was attracted to Communism. Mr. Gopi met legendary Marxist leader A.K. Gopalan in 1951, after which he returned to his village to build the then undivided Communist Party.
He soon became known as an able Left leader and an eminent teacher of a local school.
A district-level leader of the CPI(M), he left active politics in 1998 to become part of civil society movements and environmental activities. He always advocated the need for integrating leftist ideology with green politics.
He was president of one of the first citizen initiatives for river protection.
