Page 124 - PROF-DHAWAN-COMPILED

BEYOND SPACE AND AERONAUTICS

His concern for the human rights of employees was very high. This belief was not just an ideal but something,
which he practiced - often under very trying and difficult circumstances. When he was Secretary, Department of
Space, he successfully resisted various pressures to dismiss employees on frivolous grounds that often cited some
draconian provisions of the law. Similarly in the (in) famous ISRO spy case, even when he was not at the helm of

affairs of ISRO/DOS but was a Member of the Space Commission, he came out forcefully and openly in defence of
his former colleague Nambinarayanan who had suffered due to the excesses and apathy of various wings of the
government system. Prof. Dhawan spearheaded the drafting and sending out of a joint letter to newspapers and
scientific journals that openly came out in support of a colleague who had become a victim of the system. This has

to be a rare isolated event in post-independent India. Only a Satish Dhawan could have done it! No wonder many
distinguished colleagues called him "the moral and social conscience of the scientific community"

Even though most of Prof. Dhawan's active and "retired" professional life was devoted to aero space sciences and
technologies, he took a keen interest in nature. He took an active interest in the flora and fauna of the various
campuses of ISRO or IISC. During the construction of the Sriharikota complex he ruled that no trees could be cut
unless it was absolutely necessary. He made it a rule that any cutting of trees had to be cleared by him and only
after due and rigorous justification. The amount of care he took in selecting sites for ISRO - for a liquid engine

testing complex or a launch vehicle centre or tracking facilities in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are unequalled.
ISRO must still possess the various reports assessing various sites. I am sure these would still serve as models of
how environmental impact analyses can be made. After a cyclone in Sriharikota Island where ISRO launch and

rocket testing facilities are located, he initiated a major afforestation effort. He particularly enjoyed going to
Sriharikota and took the extra bit of effort to make sure that the development of the island for the space
programme did not damage it's original ecosystem. Along with a colleague Seetharaman he took photographs of
the various birds that visited Sriharikota island as a part of his research that combined two of his loves in life -
aeronautics and nature. The love for nature in him was thus further intensified by his researches on "Bird Flight".

He also took special care of the Yenadi tribes who were displaced from Sriharikota, and rehabilitated nearby. When
they were displaced again because of the administrative actions of the State he took care of them through the
innovative administrative method of engaging them in the forest work at Sriharikota Island.

I have accompanied him in many of these visits and am aware of the particular care and follow-up that he brought
to bear on the various issues. He was an "environmentalist" long before the government and various other policy
makers were looking at it as an area of concern. In the later years of life he spent considerable amount of time with

slum and street children trying to understand and solve their problems.

He has given some of his research findings on bird flight in one of the Raman Memorial Lectures 1988 (Reference

11). Some of the films of birds in flight were taken with the cameras used for recording launch vehicle
performance. This 87 page illustrated document with numerous references and appendices provides an excellent
foundation for naturalists and scientists to pursue further studies on bird flight in India. Many of the drawings of
birds and their wings were made personally by Prof. Dhawan. He has also indicated areas needing further empirical

studies.

EPILOGUE

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