Environmentalist Sunita Narain stable

The CSE director was hit by car while cycling near Lodhi Gardens

Environmentalist Sunita Narain, who was critically injured after a speeding car hit her while she was riding a bicycle here, is in a stable condition, said an official statement on Monday.

Narain, 52, the director of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and resident of south Delhi's Green Park area, was heading towards Lodhi Garden area on a bicycle when an unidentified car hit her around 6.00 a.m.

The car driver fled from the accident site, and Narain was taken to AIIMS.

Doctors said that her both arms were fractured and she suffered grievous injuries in her chest.

The CSE statement said that doctors have confirmed Sunita Narain was now stable and recovering after a surgery Sunday to implant two titanium rods in her arms.

The nose required sutures, and may need some corrective surgeries later, the doctors said.

CSE said: "Cyclists in Indian cities are being edged out systematically to make way for cars - sometimes literally so."

"Narain and CSE have been vocal supporters of people's right to walk and cycle on the roads of urban India," it said.

The 2005 Padma Shri awardee, Narain has also received the World Water Prize for work on rainwater harvesting and for its policy influence in building paradigms for community based water management.

She is also the director of the Society for Environmental Communications and publisher of the fortnightly magazine, Down To Earth.