Agartala, Jun 8 (UNI) A noted scientist working on the bamboo sector and director of Forest Research Centre for Livelihood Extension (FRCLE) here Dr Pawan K Kaushik died of Covid-19 infection last evening at a private hospital on Monday after brief suffering.
He was 52 and survived by his aged parents, wife, a son and a daughter.
A resident of Madhya Pradesh, Dr Koushik has been serving in Tripura for the last 15 years and made a remarkable change in bamboo-based industries and livelihood especially in the tribal helmets of the state.
Dr Koushik has a large number of bamboo-based innovations in Tripura. Bamboo made water bottle was his brainchild in 2016 at FRCLE, which last year had grabbed the attention of Bollywood superstar Raveena Tandon too, after Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb campaigned the product of green rehabilitation initiative.
With the effort of Dr Koushik, the artisans had developed the products as part of the value addition task under FRCLE was encouraged after Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI) designed the unique bottle for commercial purpose after the central government put a blanket ban on single-
use plastic.
He was an expert in Community forestry and creation of rural livelihood options using bamboo. Being an environment activist, Dr Pawan K Koushik was the founder of Integrated Mountain Initiative and the Clean Himalaya Initiative in Tripura.
He was infected with Covid-19 and got admitted to Agartala Govt Medical College (AGMC) two week ago after he had returned from his hometown visiting his Covid affected parents. He had been released from the hospital after being negative for Covid-19. Three days ago, he was admitted to a private hospital here with a fever, breathing problem and complaints of respiratory functions.
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