Noted environmentalist A. Achyuthan, who passed away here on Monday, was in the forefront of movements that created an ecological consciousness in the minds of the people of Kerala.
He was among the founders of the Kerala Paristhithi Samrakshana Samiti, also known as the Kerala Environment Protection Council, in the early 1970s that exclusively took up environmental issues. Mr. Achyuthan was part of the movement launched in the 1980s to protect the Silent Valley forests. He headed a panel that studied the impact of aerial spraying of the pesticide endosulfan on villages in Kasaragod district. Mr. Achyuthan was also part of the people’s commission that inquired into the ground water pollution caused by multinational beverage companies in Plachimada in Palakkad. He was a former State president and Kozhikode district functionary of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad and a former member of expert committees of the Kerala State Planning Board as well as the University Grants Commission.
He had also served as a faculty member of the then Regional Engineering College (REC), Calicut (now National Institute of Technology) and the Centre for Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development. Mr. Achyuthan won the Kerala Sahitya Academy award in 2014 for his book Paristhithipadhanathinu Oramukham. He had authored over 16 books, 12 science research papers, and around 100 essays on science apart from editing popular Science magazines.
Born in Avittathur near Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district in 1933, Mr. Achyuthan graduated in civil engineering from the University of Kerala. He completed his postgraduate course from Wisconsin University, U.S., and doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He started his career in the Public Works Department, Government of Kerala, and later worked at government engineering colleges in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram before joining the then REC. Mr. Achyuthan also worked in the University of Calicut.
The 89-year-old has been undergoing treatment for pneumonia at the Kozhikode District Co-operative Hospital. He is survived by his wife Sulochana Achyuthan, daughter Anupama A. Manjula, and son Arun.
