Manya Ganapathy Is Tackling Bengaluru's Air Pollution, One Marigold At A Time

Manya Ganapathy, a high school student from Bengaluru, is on a mission to help the city breathe clean. It all started when she saw her grand-aunt struggling with asthma for decades, unaware of the silent culprit—parthenium—lurking in the city’s green spaces. Parthenium is a toxic plant that releases airborne allergens that trigger asthma, bronchitis, and other chronic pulmonary illnesses. Ganapathy not only found this to be the cause behind her grand-aunt's health crisis but also set out to uproot the problem once and for all.

Ganapathy's Advocacy For The 'Right To Breathe'

Ganapathy is the founder of a student-led non-profit organisation, The Anugraha Project, which is leading Project Breathe, a mission to revive parthenium-infested spaces by sowing native plants like marigold, which not only add an aesthetic appeal to the city but also enrich the soil and allow local communities to breathe a sigh of relief.

According to Ganapathy, this mission has led to an 88% reduction in respiratory issues in just 8 months. The teenager recently spoke at the United Nations 1M1B Activate Impact Summit, where she called for greater awareness, community-driven solutions, and policies like mandatory weed removal to tackle the hidden public health crisis.

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More About Manya Ganapathy

Manya Ganapathy is a student of Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru. According to her LinkedIn profile, she is an aspiring biologist and TEDx speaker. She founded The Anugraha Project in 2021 to positively impact marginalised societies in her city. They focus on physical and mental welfare, waste management, infrastructural development, etc.

Ganapathy's advocacy is inspired by her late brother. She wrote on Instagram in December 2021, "My brother was passionate about spending time with the less fortunate—listening to their stories, understanding their lives, and helping them in any way possible... A month ago he passed away, so I’ve taken it upon myself to transform his dreams into reality."