Younger generation moves into frontline for climate action
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Pune: As India grapples with heatwaves and environmental degradation, the country's young demographic is stepping up to take action. Several dynamic youth leaders are battling to salvage the future, spearheading movements to save rivers, forests and more, both by moving the judiciary and initiating change at the grassroots level.
For instance, environmental lawyer Maitreya Ghorpade (30) has been behind landmark legal actions in Pune, including a National Green Tribunal (NGT) directive ordering Centre to frame India's first guidelines on light pollution in 2024. The city resident also played a key role in challenging felling of heritage trees for the Sadhu Vaswani bridge project, prompting the Maharashtra Tree Authority to demand a scientific tree-age assessment from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) last year.
Ghorpade said, "The law reflects our collective understanding of justice. We need that clarity more than ever in a climate-stressed world." His efforts are a bid to secure a better future for his family, friends, and others.
"My father is an organic farmer, and my mother was a lawyer. I'm a culmination of both their values. I wasn't satisfied with my work stints till I started utilising my education for a cause. My first draft for a case regarding pollution in the Arabian Sea during an internship in 2018 changed my life," he added.
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Since then, Ghorpade has held corporations and governments accountable, delving into issues ranging from illegal coastal mining to the non-implementation of afforestation by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), resulting in an order for 39,000 trees to be planted and a Rs 9.23 crore fine being slapped in Feb 2025.
According to a 2024 survey by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), nine in ten Indian youth (15-25 years) feel the impact of climate change.
The survey also determines a rising problem of climate anxiety amongst this generation, who, however, still believe in outcomes of singularly contributing to reduce the impact of global warming.
The trend is apparent in the actions of another youthful eco-crusader — Girish Patil (23) — who is continuing his fight to save the Pavana river in Pune while he finishes his degree in water policy in Mumbai. For his task, Patil in 2020 founded the Youth Organisation for Green India, which today has over 15 active members.
Patil was inspired by the fight against illegal mining depleting groundwater along the Girna riverbanks in Jalgaon, his hometown. This prompted him to reach out to award-winning conservationist Rajendra Singh, better known as the "Waterman of India", with whom Patil went around the country to understand green issues and conflicts on ground.
Through Nadi Ki Paathshaala, an initiative under social group Jal Biradari, Patil encountered the Pavana river and formed a deep connection with it.
As Biradari's national youth convener, he has mobilised over 30 volunteers for the cause — many from his time at Fergusson College — who routinely walk the entire river stretch to document pollution and land conflicts. Today, their findings help shape Pavana's official rejuvenation plan undertaken by the state environment department.
Patil also mentors FC's 'River Club', empowering students to engage in river conservation through awareness and action.
He told TOI, "The green cause is my passion — it has determined my career. I want to continue to fight and save the rivers of this country. This sphere does not let you generate a huge income, but it gives me the satisfaction that I am saving our lifeline. To reduce the impact of climate change, we need a group of young people asking the right questions.
I want to build that collective voice."
Not too far away, the toxic foam-blanketed Mula-Mutha and skies vanishing under a pall of black smoke made Gangotri Chanda (35), a film production professional in Pune, dedicate her time to fighting for the city's vanishing tree cover.
"I want to prevent this destruction and interact with the authorities to save it," said Chanda, who moved to Pune in 2015 and has witnessed its changing face during a key decade of infrastructural growth.
She now keeps a regular tab on tree felling documents published by PMC, fights to save every tree proposed to be felled without reason that she comes across, challenges the infrastructure planning system and more.
"We need to say no to luxuries that end up choking our planet and instead, save the necessities like air, water and trees," Chanda summed up.
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