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The PEOPLE

S D Mahajan

Vasundhara Sanman

Even before he had completed a degree course, Mr. S.D. Mahajan was engaged as a Research Assistant with the Indian Survey Research Centre. From there on, he embarked on his lifelong journey in the field of Botany. His task at the beginning made him visit all types of forests – from arid jungles of Rajasthan to the evergreens of Karnataka. In each of the forest regions, he was to study and document the flora and fauna, the insects and animals and the symbiosis between them. After 4 years, he came back to complete his B.Sc. and worked in the Botany Dept. at the Pune University. He then shifted to Gokhale College, Kolhapur as the HOD (Botany and Zoology) and continued his services there for the next 30 years. In his free time, he participated in environmental movements and thus the Nisarg Mitra Mandal (Friends of Nature club) came into being. This club pioneered many activities such as Save the Deorai (plantation attached to temples) and turned barren lands green with the help of tree plantation.