Sanctuary |People
A slim, green pamphlet that landed on the desk of Darryl
D’Monte, then Senior Assistant Editor of the Times of India
at Mumbai, in late 1977, was to have a profound eff ect on him- and the direction his career in journalism would take. The
pamphlet, ‘Report of the Task Force for Ecological Planning of
the Western Ghats’, had been put together by Zafar Futehally,
Vice President of what was then known as the World Wildlife
Fund (India). It detailed the ecological signifi cance of a tract of
tropical rainforest in Kerala known as Silent Valley, against the
background of plans to tap the valley for generating hydro-
electric power.
Darryl was intrigued by the thought that such a priceless
biosphere might be lost forever. He decided to dig deeper,
checked with contacts and through them established lines of
communication with a small group of concerned Earth scientists
and lay citizens in Kerala, who were creating lobby groups
against the proposed project.
DARRYL D’MONTE
November 11, 1944 – March 16, 2019
The original environmental journalist
Anand Parthasarathy remembers the veteran Mumbai-based scribe who wrote the fi rst
detailed account of the saving of the Silent Valley.What Darryl learnt from them, was to change him irrevocably. His professional instincts as a journalist saw the
makings of a good story, even as his growing feel for nature saw a classic challenge in the situation. In an era
when the term ‘environmental journalist’ had not yet been coined, he just became one.UNCOMMONSENSE © 2013 SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION, NEW YORK/FLICKR/PUBLIC DOMAIN
What Darryl learnt from them, was to change him
irrevocably. His professional instincts as a journalist saw the
makings of a good story, even as his growing feel for nature
saw a classic challenge in the situation. In an era when the
term ‘environmental journalist’ had not yet been coined, he just
became one.
On March 16, 2019, Darryl passed away at the age of 74,
in a Mumbai hospital after a brief illness; he had been battling
cancer for some time. He will be remembered with aff ection
and gratitude by a large community of environmental activists,
particularly in Kerala. When proposals to dam the Kunthipuzha
river threatened to eff ectively drown the Silent Valley forever,
he leveraged the upcountry media to turn public opinions
against the project. Darryl’s largely unrecognised contributions
to the eventual saving of the Valley cannot be overstated. The
burgeoning scientifi c movement against the Silent Valley dam
had received little publicity or support outside a few elements