Sunita Narain stable now after accident

New Delhi, October 21, 2013: Cyclists in Indian cities are being edged out systematically to make way for cars – sometimes literally so. CSE director general & Environmentalist Sunita Narain was hit by a car while on her daily cycling run on Sunday morning near Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences. She suffered fractures on both her arms and her nose.

Narain, 52, the director of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and resident of South Delhi's Green Park area, was heading towards Lodhi Garden area on the bicycle when an unidentified car hit her from behind around 6.00 a.m.

The car driver fled from the accident site.

"Now her condition is stated to be out of danger but she is still under treatment," said a police official.

Doctors say she is now stable and recovering after a surgery was done later on Sunday to implant two titanium rods in her arms. The nose required sutures, and may need some corrective surgeries later.

Narain and CSE have been vocal supporters of people’s right to walk and cycle on the roads of urban India.

The 2005 Padma Shri awardee, Narain, has also received the World Water Prize for work on rainwater harvesting and for its policy influence in building paradigms for community based water management.

She is also the director of the Society for Environmental Communications and publisher of the fortnightly magazine, Down To Earth.