'Was hit by a big red car', environmentalist Sunita Narain tells cops

Reported by Tanima Biswas, Edited by Surabhi Malik (With inputs from agencies) | Updated: October 21, 2013 15:58 IST

inShare

Sunita Narain, 52, is the director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)

New Delhi: Well-known environmentalist Sunita Narain, who suffered severe injuries and multiple fractures when a car hit her bicycle early on Sunday morning, is stable and recovering, doctors said at Delhi's AIIMS hospital.

The 52-year-old director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) was in surgery for over eight hours yesterday and was unable to speak much when the police tried to record her statement today. But she has reportedly told them that she was hit by "a big red car."

Ms Narain was biking towards the Lodhi Garden at around 6 am when the car hit her and sped away, said the police, who are yet to find any witness to the accident.

They are trying to locate closed circuit televisions or CCTVs in surrounding areas that could have captured footage of the car as it drove by. There was no CCTV near the accident site.

A resident of Green Park, Ms Narain often biked to the park with her trainer, but this time she was alone. She was conscious when passers-by found her and took her to AIIMS.

Doctors have had to install titanium plates to fix her broken arms. They said she has a fractured nose and may need plastic surgery.

Her centre said in a statement, "Cyclists in Indian cities are being edged out systematically to make way for cars."

The police say 67 cyclists have died in road accidents in Delhi this year.

The traffic police has now set a target to ensure that safety stickers are put on the mud guards of one lakh bicycles in the city by the end of this week. These stickers glow in the dark and will warn motorists that there is a cyclist ahead.

Ms Narain, a 2005 Padma Shri awardee, 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.