Sunita Narain is one of India's best-known environmentalists.
Environmentalist Sunita Narain, who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run while cycling to Delhi's Lodhi Gardens on Sunday morning, is recovering at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
But investigators say that though she has described a "big red car" as the offender, they have not been able to identify the vehicle yet. The cops are also yet to locate any witnesses to the accident or the people who took her to the hospital.
Ms Narain, who suffered severe injuries and multiple fractures, is recuperating at the AIIMS trauma centre. Doctors had to install titanium plates to fix her broken arms. They said she has a fractured nose and may need plastic surgery.
The 52-year-old director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) underwent a surgery for over eight hours on Sunday and was unable to speak much when the police tried to record her statement. But she reportedly told them that she was hit by "a big red car."
Cops are scanning the closed circuit televisions or CCTVs in surrounding areas that may have captured footage of the car as it drove by.
A resident of Green Park in south Delhi, Ms Narain often biked to the park with her trainer, but this time she was alone.
Her centre said in a statement, "Cyclists in Indian cities are being edged out systematically to make way for cars." The police say 67 cyclists have died in road accidents in Delhi this year.
The traffic police has now set a target to ensure that safety stickers are put on the mud guards of one lakh bicycles in the city by the end of this week. These stickers glow in the dark and will warn motorists that there is a cyclist ahead.
Ms Narain, a 2005 Padma Shri awardee, has also received the World Water Prize for work on rainwater harvesting. She is also the director of the Society for Environmental Communications and publisher of the fortnightly magazine, Down To Earth.