Kisan Mehta
Encyclopedia
Kisan Mehta is the President of Save Bombay Committee and Prakruti, nonprofits based in India.
Hons in History & Economics, a LL.B from the Bombay University and Diploma
s in Electrical Engineering and Prestressed Concrete. He was a Freedom Fighter participating in the Quit India Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942. During this struggle he was arrested and imprisoned in the Yervada Central Prison, Pune for eight months in 1943.
depicting the history of the Indian peoples' struggle for freedom beginning with the First War of Independence
in 1857 and ending with the Quit India movement
that culminated in Indians getting freedom on 15 August 1947. The exhibition of posters, illustrations, translates was first inaugurated by Jayaprakash Narayan
on the eve of independence in May 1947. The Exhibition toured the country including would be Pakistan areas during the years 1947-50 to be inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
, Maulana Azad, Achyut Patwardan, Kamala Devi
, etc., at various locations in India viewed by about 5 million visitors.
as a Municipal Councillor and served in that role till 1977. He was also the Chairman of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport
(BEST), which provides public road road transport bus services as well as supplying electric supply to Mumbai
.
, Bombay's most condemned slum colony, this unusual project has since been implemented in unauthorized slums by local authorities throughout the country bringing about a quantum transformation in the quality of life of the most unfortunate.
s like Sardar Sarovar Dam
on the River Narmada, Tehri Dam project
in Uttar Pradesh, Silent Valley Project in Kerala and many others throughout the country. Visited Japan, various countries in North America, South America and Europe, etc., over five times to persuade the foreign governments to not to support India's mega projects that affect the poor.
, a rain forest in Kerala, resulted in the government dropping the project altogether.
Biography
Kisan Mehta was born on 31 August 1924. He has a B.A.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
Hons in History & Economics, a LL.B from the Bombay University and Diploma
Diploma
A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...
s in Electrical Engineering and Prestressed Concrete. He was a Freedom Fighter participating in the Quit India Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942. During this struggle he was arrested and imprisoned in the Yervada Central Prison, Pune for eight months in 1943.
Indian National Exhibition
On release from the prison in 1943, he conceived and developed the Indian National Exhibitiondepicting the history of the Indian peoples' struggle for freedom beginning with the First War of Independence
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
in 1857 and ending with the Quit India movement
Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement , or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for immediate independence. Gandhi hoped to bring the British government to the negotiating table...
that culminated in Indians getting freedom on 15 August 1947. The exhibition of posters, illustrations, translates was first inaugurated by Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan , widely known as JP Narayan, Jayaprakash, or Loknayak, was an Indian independence activist and political leader, remembered especially for leading the opposition to Indira Gandhi in the 1970s and for giving a call for peaceful Total Revolution...
on the eve of independence in May 1947. The Exhibition toured the country including would be Pakistan areas during the years 1947-50 to be inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was an Indian barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and one of the founding fathers of India...
, Maulana Azad, Achyut Patwardan, Kamala Devi
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was an Indian social reformer, freedom fighter, and most remembered for her contribution to Indian independence movement, for being the driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre in post-Independence India, and for upliftment of the...
, etc., at various locations in India viewed by about 5 million visitors.
Himalaya Hamara exhibition
He conceived and completed "Himalaya Hamara Exhibition" in 1963 at the time of the Chinese aggression depicting the importance of the Himalaya to India and its people The exhibition, put up in the Cross Maidan near Churchgate and Flora Fountain, was spread on 50,000 sq metres of land and had a model of Himalaya measuring 150 metres by 80 metres and 10 metres high. It was viewed by 2 million visitors in 60 days. While presenting difficulties in defending the snow-clad Himalaya due to the terrain, the Exhibition showed the relevance and value of the Himalaya to India and called upon Indians to raise against the aggression and offer their supreme for the defence of Himalaya, which is an eternal source of spiritual, cultural, religious social values for people of Indian sub-continent.Public service
He was elected in 1968 to the Municipal Corporation of Greater BombayMunicipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
The Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika is the civic body that governs the city of Mumbai and is India's richest municipal organisation. Its annual budget is even more than that of some of the small states of India. It is also known as Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai or the Brihanmumbai...
as a Municipal Councillor and served in that role till 1977. He was also the Chairman of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport
Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport
The BEST ) is Mumbai's public transport service and electricity provider....
(BEST), which provides public road road transport bus services as well as supplying electric supply to Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
.
Electric Supply to Slums scheme
He evolved "Electric Supply to Slums Scheme" for providing electric supply to slums and implemented the same throughout Bombay despite formidable government opposition and existence of a retrograde law . Inaugurated on 15 August 1971 in DharaviDharavi
Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or...
, Bombay's most condemned slum colony, this unusual project has since been implemented in unauthorized slums by local authorities throughout the country bringing about a quantum transformation in the quality of life of the most unfortunate.
Environmental activism and social service
Kisan Mehta resigned from active politics, Municipal Councillorship and all elected posts as well as retired from personal private business in 1977 and devotes time, resources and energies to issues of environment protection, natural resource conservation, equity to all to natural resources of the earth, civil rights, gender equality to provide hope and self confidence to the shunned and the shunted. Kisan Mehta endeavors to live a simple life demanding the minimum on the Earth's natural resources. He has been one of the key proponents of Urban Agriculture in India.Save Bombay Committee and Prakruti
He set up Save Bombay Committee (SBC) in 1973 and Prakruti in 1988 as public trusts and registered societies. The SBC works in the area of urban and regional planning and development to ensure equal opportunity for improving the quality of life to all citizens by avoiding crowding, and removing inequalities as well as for open spaces, afforestation, environment protection etc. It has supported agitation against megaprojectMegaproject
A megaproject is an extremely large-scale investment project. Megaprojects are typically defined as costing more than US$1 billion and attracting a lot of public attention because of substantial impacts on communities, environment, and budgets. Megaprojects can also be defined as "initiatives that...
s like Sardar Sarovar Dam
Narmada Dam Project
The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a dam on the Narmada River near Navagam, Gujarat, India. It is the largest dam and part of the Narmada Valley Project, a large hydraulic engineering project involving the construction of a series of large irrigation and hydroelectric multi purpose dams on the Narmada River...
on the River Narmada, Tehri Dam project
Tehri dam
The Tehri Dam is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand, India. It is the primary dam of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd. and the Tehri hydroelectric complex...
in Uttar Pradesh, Silent Valley Project in Kerala and many others throughout the country. Visited Japan, various countries in North America, South America and Europe, etc., over five times to persuade the foreign governments to not to support India's mega projects that affect the poor.
Largest organic cotton cultivation
He campaigned for organic cultivation of cotton taken up in Vidarbha, Maharashtra's cotton growing region, with 135 farmers cultivating organically on 12 square kilometres of their land in 1995. It was recognized internationally as the largest organic cotton cultivation project in the world for that season. It became the torch bearer for organic cultivation movement in the country.Strengthening environmental policies
Convinced on the need to protect the environment for the survival and sustenance of living beings, Kisan Mehta has assiduously worked for bringing about change in the country's legal structure as well as for assuring accountability and transparency in delivery of service to citizens. The Maharashtra Urban Areas Preservation and Protection of Trees Act, 1975 came about due to his initiative. Following his working, the Central Government constituted for the first time the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1978 and enacted the Environment Protection Act in 1981.Opposition to Silent Valley Hydroelectric project
His Public Interest Litigation against the Kerala Government proposal to establish hydroelectric project in the Silent Valley National ParkSilent Valley National Park
Silent Valley National Park , is located in the Nilgiri Hills, Palakkad District in Kerala, South India...
, a rain forest in Kerala, resulted in the government dropping the project altogether.