18 Facts About Sumaira Abdulali

Sumaira Abdulali, born 22 May 1961 is an environmentalist from Mumbai, India, founder of the NGO Awaaz Foundation and convenor of the Movement against Intimidation, Threat and Revenge against Activists.

Sumaira Abdulali was co-chairman of the Conservation Subcommittee and honorary secretary of Asia's oldest and largest environmental NGO, the Bombay Natural History Society, and was a Governing Council Member between 2008 and 2021.

Sumaira Abdulali set up the first network for protection of activists in India after an attack on her by the sand mafia is 2004.

Sumaira Abdulali has been called the Indian 'Minister of Noise' by Government officers and by the press.

In 2003, Abdulali filed public interest litigation in coordination with the Bombay Environment Action Group, Dr Yeshwant Oke and Dr Prabhakar Rao in the Bombay High Court demanding the demarcation of silence zones.

In 2006, Sumaira Abdulali founded Awaaz Foundation, a registered public trust to support her work in environmentalism, named for the Marathi and Hindi word for "noise".

Sumaira Abdulali has continued her campaign against noise pollution through litigation, advocacy and awareness programs with pro bono help from legal and advertising professionals and through volunteers.

Sumaira Abdulali has advocated the impartial application of Noise Rules from all sources including from all religions and sections of society.

Sumaira Abdulali has measured noise levels at political rallies for several years, including the annual Dussehra Rally of the Shiv Sena at Shivaji Park, prompting their leader, Bal Thackeray to call her the 'Awaaz lady' and challenging her to control his decibel levels, which he compared to the roar of a tiger.

Sumaira Abdulali opposed the use of private helipads atop rooftops in Mumbai.

Sumaira Abdulali was a member of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board Committee to determine appropriate decibel levels restrictions on horns and sirens.

Sumaira Abdulali has been referred to as "India's foremost campaigner against illegal sand mining" by the Press and has opposed illegal sand mining through advocacy and legal interventions since 2003, when she noticed illegal sand mining outside her ancestral home at Kihim Beach in Alibag.

Sumaira Abdulali participated in the production of the 2012 documentary Sand Wars, which focuses on sand mining and its damaging environmental impacts across the world.

Sumaira Abdulali has advocated that construction debris and plastics, currently dumped in landfills should be recycled as building aggregate.

Sumaira Abdulali has opposed the use of crushed stone as a substitute to natural sand for construction, as it involves breaking down of mountains to extract stone.

Sumaira Abdulali wrote to Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra to investigate the role of sand mining in the collapse and drawing to his attention that other bridges including the Vaitarna Railway Bridge, a main line northwards of Mumbai, was threatened.

In 2011, Sumaira Abdulali filed public interest litigation to oppose leases issued by the Government of Maharashtra to allow open-pit mining in the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg corridor of the Western Ghats.

Sumaira Abdulali filed a public interest litigation requesting that the area be declared an Ecologically Sensitive Area and a zero mining policy be applied in the area.