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Bouquet of events

Greens is organising programmes on Neelakurinji

MYSTICAL FLOWER Neelakurinji blooms only one in 12 years

With the mountain ranges near Munnar and the Nilgiris blossoming in the blue and white of Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), Greens (Group Endeavour for Environment and Nature Sustenance), an environmental organisation of Secretariat employees, is holding a bouquet of programmes on this mystical flower, which blooms only once in 12 years.

The events start at V.J.T. Hall on World Environment Day on June 5. Bal Pandiyan, a saviour of migratory birds at Koonthakulam, a haven of feathered visitors, near Valliyoor, on the Nagarcoil-Tirunelveli road, will inaugurate the Environment Day programmes at 10 a.m.

Accepted entries to a nature photography contest organised by Greens will be on display from Monday.

A World Environment Day conference will be held from 5 p.m. on the inaugural day. Chief Minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan will inaugurate the meeting. Sugathakumari, poet and environment activist, and M. Baba, Director of Centre of Earth Sciences Studies, will participate.

Fresh from a `Save Kurinji Campaign' in Munnar in May to conserve the shola forests, held along with a few other environmental organisations, activists of Greens are organising a `Kurinji Sandhya' on June 6.

A carpet of flowers

Earlier that day, an exhibition of photographs, taken since 1982, will show glimpses of these flowers weaving a carpet on the mountains. Pictures taken since 1982 will be on show.

Munnar Divisional Forest Officer will inaugurate the `Kurinji Sandhya.' Jomy Augustine, faculty member from St. Thomas College, Pala, will speak on Neelakurinjis and their impact on the ecosystem. Dr. Augustine has directed documentaries on eco issues, such as `Kerala - a Garden of Eden.' K. Kunhikrishnan, who teaches at University College, will give a demonstration on Neelakurinjis and Shola forests with the help of slides.

The final day of the Environment Day celebrations will see a gathering of representatives of green organisations from all over Kerala discussing the threats to the environment in the State.

"We will even the discuss the Koodamkulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu, which will have an impact on the environment of the southern districts of Kerala. Another topic is `Deserts and desertification,' the theme of World Environment Day 2006," says K. Muraleedharan Nair, president of Greens.

A painting contest will be held for lower and upper primary school children on June 5. The contest will be held for high school students the following day.

The valedictory programme will be inaugurated by Minister for Forests Benoy Viswom.

G. RAJEEV

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