She has shaken the very foundation of the cola giants in India, compelled the Indian government to set up a panel to look into the issue of ‘extremely' high levels of pesticides in their soft drinks and has forced the health ministry to commit to submitting its report on standards to be enforced for pesticide residues in soft drinks by year end.

Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, seemingly a wisp of a woman, has stirred quite a storm in the world of corporate accountability in terms of the environment.

If that is not enough, featuring on her to-do list is cleaning up Delhi's polluted air, adopting rainwater-harvesting systems and forest-related resource management and water-related issues. But it is her war against the soft drinks that has brought her and her department in the public eye.

Born in Delhi on August 23, 1961 to Usha and Raj Narain, Sunita is the eldest of four sisters. Her father, a freedom fighter, started his handicrafts export business after India's Independence in 1947. He died when Sunita was eight. Her mother, who took over the business, brought up her children.

“I had quite a cushy background and today, when I look back, I marvel at my mother's courage more than mine, as it must have been phenomenal on her part to let me travel to places on my own. It wasn't just exciting but also tremendously benefiting to be able to do what I wanted,'' she says.

While doing her graduation by correspondence from Delhi University in 1980-1983, Narain started working simultaneously in the field of environment. “I somehow ended up meeting a number of people who had similar interests and developed a tremendous fascination for environment-related issues.

“During the late 1970s when the Chipko Movement started in the Himalayas where women were protesting to save forests, I realised that environment conservation was my calling,'' she informs.

“Environment was not taught as a subject in any college in India at that time. In the 1980s, I happened to meet Kartikeya Sarabhai, son of renowned scientist Vikram Sarabhai and director of [the] Vikram Sarabhai Institute for Development and Research, Ahmedabad, who offered me a position as research assistant in the institute and there was no looking back. This was followed by a short stint at the Natural History Society, Mumbai, doing audio-visuals on environmental issues.

Tryst with CSE

While on a holiday in Delhi in 1982, Sunita met Anil Aggarwal, an eminent and committed environmentalist who gave environmental concerns a direction, and was working towards setting up CSE. She joined Aggarwal as a co-researcher. She worked with him on the State of India's Environment Reports. “I believe what I am today is because of what Anil taught me. A core group of 4-5 people in CSE today has been highly influenced by Anil's values and insights into the subject. He never had complaints, but would rather come up with solutions,'' Narain says of her mentor.

“He instilled in us the need to have full scientific facts, information and rationality to get to the bottom of the issue. With that kind of legacy, it would be shameful for us not to do the work we are doing,'' she says.

Appointed deputy director in 1993, Sunita took over as director of the Centre in 2000. She has worked on various programme units of the Centre involved in research communication and advocacy on environmental issues. Currently she is also publisher and editor of the Delhi-based fortnightly newsmagazine, Down To Earth.

Talking of the struggle to set up a process to test the quality of ground water, Narain explains, “Initially, for several years at CSE we continued being concerned about the growing toxification and contamination in water and every time we took samples to the government laboratories they would refuse to test saying we would later go to the court and create hassles. Finally, it was decided that CSE would set up its own state-of-the-art laboratory to analyse contaminants in water and food.

Nilima Pathak, Friday

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