Pune: Noted environment activist, Parisar founder, Sujit Patwardhan passes away

“He had been influenced by changes taking place in Latin America and Europe, where people’s movements had forced governments to reconsider ‘automobile-centric’ policies paving the way for a focus on walking, cycling, and public transport or ‘people-centric’ cities,” said Gadgil.

Parisar in its early days organised public lectures by luminaries such as Vandana Shiva, Bittu Sehgal, Medha Patkar, MN Buch, Ramchandra Guha, Madhav Gadgil, and Amulya Kumar Reddy on a variety of issues connected with the environment and sustainable development.

“An early and long-term supporter of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Patwardhan saw transport policies being linked to various aspects of human well-being, such as air pollution, road safety, and heritage conservation. He vociferously opposed road widening, flyovers, and such projects which not only promoted more motorisation but also destroyed the aesthetics of the city. Under his leadership, Parisar fought against the destruction of the river and hills, helped draft the city’s first Comprehensive Traffic and Transport Policy, and when necessary, took up cases such as opposition to the river road all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Gadgil.

He had served on several important committees such as the Maharashtra State Environment Protection Committee, High Court Committee for overseeing building permissions granted in Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani, Mahabaleshwar Panchgani Regional Planning Board, Urban Heritage, and Non-Motorized Transport Committees of PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation), among others.

Patwardhan hailed from the famous Patwardhan family, his uncles Achyutrao and Rao Saheb Patwardhan were involved in India’s freedom movement and his father was an ICS (Indian Civil Service) officer. He studied at Rishi Valley School. He studied printing technology in the UK and later set up his own printing press, Mudra, in Narayan Peth in 1976, which he ran until a few years ago.

He is survived by his wife Vidya Patwardhan, an educationist, and daughters Lara and Amrita Patwardhan as well as four grandchildren.