Sathyu

SATINATH SARANGI, popularly known as ‘Sathyu’, has now been recognised nationally and internationally as a key figure in helping Bhopal gas survivors as well as campaigning for justice to them. He has been declared the man of the year 2010 by Week, a weekly magazine.

Sarangi grew up in a Brahmin family in Jharkhand, erstwhile Bihar. He was in the process of completing Ph.D in metallurgy and working as a community activist in Pipariya town on the foothills of Satpura, 150 km from Bhopal, when the Union Carbide gas leak disaster took place. He promptly rushed to the Madhya Pradesh capital hoping that he would return in a week to resume his research work. But the suffering of the people was so stupendous that he decided to stay on, giving up his career as metallurgist. A quarter of a century on, he is still there. Lot of work still remains to be done.Tribune