Crusade for the Periyar
SUNIL NALIYATH
|
Sainudeen Edayar's exhibition of photographs documents the pollution of the Periyar.
|
GRIM PICTURE: Effluents have made the Periyar one of the most polluted rivers in Kerala.
For Sainudeen Edayar, the soft spoken freelance photographer hailing from the Eloor-Edayar industrial area in Ernakulam, photography has never been a mere source of sustenance. Apart from regular photographic assignments, he chose to tread a different path to express his social commitment, of course, through the lens. As a result, he could come up with a collection of graphic photographs that depicts the pollution of the Periyar.
River in distress
For the past several years Sainudeen Edayar, like a sentinel, has been focussing his lens on the Periyar and his work has turned out to be a chronicle of the damage being inflicted on the river. Needless to say, this arterial river is in distress owing to uncontrollable industrial pollution and sand-mining. Discharge of industrial effluents has badly affected the marine life of the river.
As a resident of Edayar, Sainudeen has seen the gradual degeneration of the Periyar. He saw for himself how a serene village of his childhood turned out to be a nightmare within the span of a few decades. The toxicity of the area earned the place, the dubious distinction of being one of the worst polluted zones in the world.
His collection of more than 100 exclusive images meticulously capture the various phases of pollution. Sainudeen's graphic photographs had irked many in this industrial zone. Recently, his collection of photographs was exhibited in Kochi. Aptly christened `Periyar in Coma,' the two-day exhibition was jointly put up by the Young Indians and Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithy.
Plans are afoot to hold a similar exhibition in Thiruvananthapuram soon.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
