Aryatheautistic at 11:56, 8 February 2026

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{{Short description|Indian environmentalist (1932–2022)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = M. K. Prasad
| image = Prof MK Prasad DSCN0022.JPG
| birth_place = [[Kochi]], [[Kerala]], [[British Raj]]
| birth_date = 1932
| death_date = 17 January 2022 (age 89–90)
| death_place = Kochi, Kerala, India
| residence =
| citizenship =
| field = [[natural environment|environment]], [[nature]], [[biodiversity]]
| work_institutions =
| alma_mater =
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for =
| author_abbrev_bot =
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| influences =
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}}

'''M. K. Prasad''' (1932 – 17 January 2022){{efn|There is some confusion about Prasad's date of birth. Most sources indicate that Prasad was born in 1932. However, ''[[Samayam]]'', a Malayalam language newspaper, states his date of birth as 24 January 1933.}} was an Indian environmentalist known for his grassroots level activism to protect tropical rainforests in the Indian state of [[Kerala]]. In the late 1970s, as a member of [[Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad]], he led the [[Save Silent Valley]] movement, to prevent development of a hydroelectric project in the [[Silent Valley National Park]], a project that would have flooded the rainforest.

He was a principal of the [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam|Maharaja’s College]] Ernakulam, Kochi, and pro vice chancellor of [[University of Calicut|Calicut University]]. Earlier, as a part of KSSP, he had contributed to the [[national literacy mission]] which had resulted in his native [[Ernakulam district]] being declared the first fully literate district in the country.

== Early life ==
Prasad was born in an ''[[Ezhava]]'' family in [[Cherai]] on the island of [[Vypin]] in the coastal district of [[Ernakulam district|Ernakulam]] in present day Indian state of Kerala.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Gadgil|first=Madhav|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3Hd13qdl9sC&pg=PA81|title=Ecological Journeys|date=2005|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-7824-112-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Noted environmentalist Prof MK Prasad passes away |department=Kochi News|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/prof-mk-prasad-green-crusader-passes-away/articleshow/88960372.cms|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117235239/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/prof-mk-prasad-green-crusader-passes-away/articleshow/88960372.cms|archive-date=17 January 2022|access-date=22 January 2022|work=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=പ്രൊഫ. എംകെ പ്രസാദ് അന്തരിച്ചു; അന്ത്യം കൊവിഡ് ബാധയെ തുടര്‍ന്ന്‌|url=https://malayalam.samayam.com/local-news/ernakulam/prof-mk-prasad-passed-away/articleshow/88944080.cms|access-date=22 January 2022|website=Samayam Malayalam|language=ml}}</ref> He studied in the Rama Varuna Union High School, a school that was established by local Hindu and Christian community leaders.<ref name=":2" /> The headmaster of the school and Prasad's early mentor, [[K. C. Abraham]], would later go on to serve as the [[governor of Gujarat]].<ref name=":2" /> While his family was expecting him to follow in his uncle's footsteps to become an [[Ayurveda]] physician, he joined [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam|Maharaja's College]] in Kochi.<ref name=":2" /> He received an undergraduate degree in [[botany]] before going to [[Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani]] to graduate with a master's degree in botany.<ref name=":2" />

== Career and activism ==
[[File:Prof MK Prasad DSCN0028.JPG|thumb|alt=Professor MK Prasad|Prof. M. K. Prasad speaks at an ornithologist meeting, Kerala Sahitya academy hall, Thrissur in connection with the National Book Festival]]

Prasad joined the Kerala State Educational Service in 1955 and went on to spend over 30 years in the academic arena holding various positions in the Kerala higher education system including Principal of the [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam|Maharaja’s College]] Ernakulam, Kochi and Pro Vice Chancellor of [[University of Calicut|Calicut University]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=17 January 2022|title=Noted environmentalist M K Prasad passes away at 89|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/environmentalist-m-k-prasad-passes-away-7727250/|access-date=21 January 2022|work=The Indian Express|language=en|archive-date=17 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117190431/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/environmentalist-m-k-prasad-passes-away-7727250/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Prasad joined the [[Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad]] (KSSP, {{Translation|Kerala Science Literature Council}}) in 1967. The organization was set up in 1962 as a publishing house focusing on publishing scientific magazines and journals. He wrote extensively for the organization's science journals before stepping in to set up the Ernakulam district unit for the organization.<ref name=":2" /> Some of the topics that he wrote in the initial years in the 1960s included industrial pollution, particularly focusing on the [[estuaries]] of the [[Periyar River|Periyar river]].<ref name=":2" /> In 1971, he partnered with scientists [[Syed Zahoor Qasim]] and [[U. K. Gopalan]] to organize a seminar and draw attention to the problems of industrial pollution in the Ernakulam district.<ref name=":2" />

In the late 1970s, he led [[Save Silent Valley|efforts to save the Silent Valley]], a tropical rain forest in the [[Western Ghats|Western ghats]] in southern India, when a planned [[hydroelectric plant]] threatened to flood and devastate the flora and fauna of [[Silent Valley National Park|Silent Valley]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Silent Valley|url=http://www.silentvalley.gov.in/Ebook/2.html|publisher=www.silentvalley.gov.in|access-date=24 July 2011|archive-date=28 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528173848/http://silentvalley.gov.in/ebook/2.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He initially wrote about the project's impacts in ''Sastragathi'', a scientific journal published by KSSP, in 1977. He later led efforts, working with engineers, economists, and scientists, to draw attention to the environmental impact of the project. These efforts were followed by ground level activism including organization of [[street play]]s and other forms of protest across the state.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> The protests were called off in the early 1980s when the then prime minister [[Indira Gandhi]], ceding to the protests, promised that the forests would be preserved.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Renowned environmental activist and teacher Prof M K Prasad passes away|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2022/jan/17/renowned-environmental-activist-and-teacher-prof-m-k-prasad-passes-away-2407762.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121072047/https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2022/jan/17/renowned-environmental-activist-and-teacher-prof-m-k-prasad-passes-away-2407762.html|archive-date=21 January 2022|access-date=21 January 2022|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

Prasad also contributed to efforts at KSSP towards the spread of literacy as a part of the [[national literacy mission]]. He was actively engaged in actions that resulted in [[Ernakulam district|Ernakulam]] being declared the first fully literate district in India in 1990.<ref name=":2" /> He also set up KSSP’s Integrated Rural technology Centre in [[Mundur, Palakkad|Mundur]], [[Palakkad district]], Kerala and served as the centre's director for three years.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=17 January 2022|title=M.K. Prasad, noted ecologist and 'Save Silent Valley' campaigner, passes away|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/mk-prasad-noted-ecologist-and-save-silent-valley-campaigner-passes-away/article38281035.ece|access-date=21 January 2022|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=17 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117065203/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/mk-prasad-noted-ecologist-and-save-silent-valley-campaigner-passes-away/article38281035.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>

Prasad was a member of the United Nations’ [[Millennium Ecosystem Assessment]] Board for a five-year tenure.<ref name=":1" /> He was also a life member and active participant in the activities of the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wide Fund of Nature]] (WWF) – India and of the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN-CEC).<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|title=Environmentalist MK Prasad, who spearheaded the Silent Valley movement, passes away|url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/environmentalist-mk-prasad-who-spearheaded-the-silent-valley-movement-passes-away-kerala-kssp-1.6367493|access-date=21 January 2022|work=Mathrubhumi|language=en|archive-date=21 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121081155/https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/environmentalist-mk-prasad-who-spearheaded-the-silent-valley-movement-passes-away-kerala-kssp-1.6367493|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Honour for Kochi's green warrior Prof. M.K. Prasad {{!}}|url=https://www.britishsouthindians.co.uk/honour-for-kochis-green-warrior-prof-m-k-prasad/|access-date=21 January 2022 |website=www.britishsouthindians.co.uk |archive-date=21 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121081539/https://www.britishsouthindians.co.uk/honour-for-kochis-green-warrior-prof-m-k-prasad/|url-status=live}}</ref> In India, he chaired the Programme Advisory Committee of the [[MS Swaminathan Research Foundation]]'s (MSSRF) Agro Biodiversity Centre, in Wayanad, Kerala and served as a member of the Governing Council of the [[Centre for Environment Education]] (CEE) and of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web|title=CEE India Governing Council|url=http://www.ceeindia.org/cee/governing_council.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061222/http://www.ceeindia.org/cee/governing_council.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=28 July 2011|publisher=www.ceeindia.org}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.keralabiodiversity.org/members.html|title=Kerala Biodiversity|publisher=www.keralabiodiversity.org|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225154603/http://www.keralabiodiversity.org/members.html|archivedate=25 February 2011}}</ref><ref name=":4" />

He authored numerous books and monographs in Malayalam on environmental issues and popular science and co-authored a techno-economic and socio-political assessment of the Silent Valley Hydro Electric project in 1979.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

Prasad also served as the vice chancellor of the [[University of Calicut]], the principal of the [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam]], the executive vice chairman of the Kerala Government's Information Kerala Mission, and the president of the KSSP.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />

== Personal life ==
Prasad was married to Sherly Prasad, who retired as a professor from [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam]]. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. He was a native of Kochi.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Prasad died at a private hospital in Kochi on 17 January 2022, while being treated for complications of [[COVID-19]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Noted environmentalist M K Prasad passes way|publisher=[[Press Trust of India]]|url=http://www.ptinews.com/news/13051371_Noted-environmentalist-M-K-Prasad-passes-way.html|access-date=17 January 2022|archive-date=17 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117065318/http://ptinews.com/news/13051371_Noted-environmentalist-M-K-Prasad-passes-way.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

==See also==
* [[Save Silent Valley]]
* [[Sugathakumari]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.conflicts.indiawaterportal.org/node/15?q=node/67 India Water Portal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041426/http://conflicts.indiawaterportal.org/node/15?q=node%2F67 |date=4 March 2016 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724075516/http://www.salimalifoundation.org/about%20us.html Salim Ali Foundation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120121090003/http://www.ceetindia.org/ccdc/climate-change-conference-committees.html CCDC Committee 2010]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726182844/http://www.infokerala.org/emd.html Information Kerala Mission]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120313052042/http://www.mssrfcabc.res.in/our-team/steering-team/prof-m-k-prasad/ MS Swaminathan Research Foundation Community Agrobiodiversity Centre]
* [http://www.egovonline.net/interview/interview-details.asp?Title=Services-at-Click-of-Mouse&interviewid=220 Services at Click of Mouse - Interview with Prof. M K Prasad on egovonline.net] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314041417/http://www.egovonline.net/interview/interview-details.asp?Title=Services-at-Click-of-Mouse&interviewid=220 |date=14 March 2012 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, M. K.}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India]]
[[Category:Indian conservationists]]
[[Category:People from Kerala]]
[[Category:People from Kochi]]

M. K. Prasad - Revision history

Aryatheautistic at 11:56, 8 February 2026