The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Environment and wildlife travelling film festival inaugurated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 06, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Environment and wildlife travelling film festival inaugurated

Staff Reporter

Movies to be screened at Kalaivanar Arangam

WONDERS OF NATURE: Students are impressed by the photographs on display at the exhibition held as part of CMS Vatavaran 2006 in Chennai on Thursday. — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

CHENNAI: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests will evaluate the credibility of non-governmental organisations while considering proposals submitted to the Ministry, said Siddartha Behura, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, here on Thursday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of Chennai CMS Vatavaran 2006, the three-day environment and wildlife travelling film festival.

Mr. Behura said a committee would screen the proposals received by the Ministry. It would also take into consideration the past experience of the NGO in the field of wildlife awareness and conservation while considering their proposals.

Duty of citizens

Nanditha Krishna, Honorary Director, C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre, one of the organisers of the programme, highlighted the duty of citizens towards environmental conservation. Unchecked industrialisation, use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers for agriculture and excess use of groundwater were not conducive for a clean and green environment. Film festivals such as these played an important role in spreading this awareness among children and the public, she added.

K.S. Neelakantan, Director, Department of Environment, said his department had started the national green corps in 7,500 schools across the State, in addition to the 1,200 eco-clubs funded by the State Government. NGOs, academicians, teachers and environmental experts have been nominated in each district as awareness co-ordinators.

At the school level, trained teachers guide the students on green corps activities, which included awareness rallies, street plays, meetings, workshops etc., he said.

P.N. Vasanti, Director, Centre for Media Studies (CMS), one of the co-sponsors of the programme, said that after the decision to take the film festival out of Delhi was made in 2004, the environment and wildlife travelling film festival have been held in Chennai, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Kolkatta, Kaziranga, Guwahati and Golaghat. This year, the festival would be held in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Ranchi and Srinagar, besides Chennai, she said.

Revathy Menon, actor and social activist, appealed to children to avoid using non bio-degradable materials, which would cause irreparable damage to the groundwater table.

Film screenings

A variety of films on wildlife and environment conservation would be screened for children at Kalaivanar Arangam between 9.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Screenings for college students have been arranged between 2.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m., and for the general public between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., said the organisers. Apart from screening films, a photography exhibition has also been also organised at Kalaivanar Arangam.

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