Don Sebastian

Thiruvananthapuram: It rained red in Pattazhy in 2001. Now the village near Kollam has a namesake near the red planet in the solar system. Dr Sainudeen Pattazhy, the environmentalist who made his mark with a pioneering study on the red rain phenomenon in Kerala, never knew he would be instrumental in immortalising his birthplace in space.

Sainudeen Sahib, a zoology lecturer in Sree Narayana College, Kollam, shot into limelight after he got a call from Nasa information centre last week. He could hardly believe his ears when he was told that an asteroid located somewhere between Mars and Jupiter would bear his name – 5178 Pattazhy.

Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California on Wednesday renamed the main-belt asteroid, discovered by Dr R Rajamohan in 1989, as per the nomenclature convention of the International Astronomical Union. The discoverer had apparently come across the research paper of the Indian environmentalist.

The JPL website says: “Indian environmentalist Sainudeen Pattazhy (b. 1962), senior lecturer on zoology at Kollam Sree Narayana College in Kerala, is known for his research on red rain, the control of mosquitoes, the potential health hazards of mobile phone towers and the ecobiology of sacred groves.”

Sainudeen, the first Indian environmentalist to have a planet named after him joins the league of Ramanujam and Homi Bhabha.

The president of the Kerala Environmental Researchers’ Association, who was in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday to attend a felicitation ceremony, spoke about his works and dreams.

On red rain, he said: “In 2000-01, people were shocked to see red rain in many parts of Kerala. The state was experiencing many geological peculiarities then. There were landslides. There were wells caving in. And subsequently, there was a lot of biogas emission to the atmosphere. That coloured the rain.”

On mosquito control, the environmentalist said: “Mosquitoes can be effectively controlled the nature’s way. A variety of big mosquitoes, known as elephant mosquitoes, are harmless to humans. At the same time, they feed on mosquito larvae.”

“Unscientific installation of mobile phone towers poses health hazards like oblivion, deafness, headache and even skin diseases in children. There must be some regulations.

Towers should not be allowed in population-dense areas and near educational institutions. Radiation from the tower impacts people up to 200 metres. So mobile phone companies must be encouraged to share towers to minimise the damage,” said Pattazhy.

The department of telecom is perusing his recommendations.

On space science, the doctor said: “Even as a child, I was keen on learning about space. But somewhere I turned to zoology and then environmental science. But I would definitely love to see the planet named after me and my village.”

Source : DNA