APRIL 10

  • Board cracks whip against plastic units

  • Children shine at environment film fest

  • Board cracks whip against plastic units

    THE TIMES OF INDIA [10 APRIL, 2002]
    TIMES NEWS NETWORK

    BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board means business. It ordered closure of six plastic manufacturing units on Monday for manufacturing plastic less than 20 microns thick.

    The team of officers behind the raid against plastic wholesalers in Chickpet-Avenue Road area is led by Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore (Urban) D.S. Ashwath, DCP Central Gopal B. Hosur, Department of Legal Meteorology and KSPCB officers.

    ``We have taken samples of plastics from these shops and the police have booked cases against them. Surprise visits and raids will be a weekly affair till we root out manufacturers and traders violating rules. Our next crackdown will be on manufacturers and traders of plastic table rolls which are less than 20 microns thick, including those as thin as five microns,'' KSPCB Regional Environment officer Sadiq Ahmed said.

    A sub-committee on plastics will meet regularly and decided on the future course of action on the ban against the material. The Pollution Control Board has urged people not to buy plastic less than 20 microns thick.

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    Children shine at environment film fest

    THE TIMES OF INDIA [10 APRIL, 2002]
    NONA WALIA

    NEW DELHI: Green Oscar recipient Mike H Pandey’s Shores of Silence got everyone debating over the mindless slaughter of whale sharks; Niret and Nikhil Alva’s Lions Of The Gir, brought man and lion in close proximity; Romulus Earl Whitaker’s King Cobra, which also won the Silver Tree Award, explored the world of venomous snakes.

    But Whitaker admits, in those close encounters with crocodiles and water lizards, he was just using the power of visuals. ‘‘I have a fetish for cobras. But here, I was trying to tell a story. It’s biology in a computer chip.’’

    These are some capsules from India’s first National Environment & Wildlife Film Festival — a fest with a difference, where along with big names, the children too, showcase their efforts to change the world.

    Ms Leela Litterbug and Mr Moneybag aren’t just imagined characters. They are real too. That’s exactly what class eight students of Jiva Public school said in their documentary, The Adventures of Ecogirl and Environman.

    Then there was another children’s production, Mrituchakra, which attacked industrial pollution and asked the world why children had to drink the polluted water of Pauna river. ‘‘A strong documentary made by children between 12 and 16 years, shot in Maval district of Pune,’’ said Dr N Bhaskara Rao, Chairman, Centre for Media Studies, who organised the film festival.

    It took twelve hours for a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly — every minute of which was filmed by Gurpreet Sapal and his team. He can even tell you the difference between a shy and aggressive butterfly. For three months, Sapal did nothing else but went Chasing the Butterflies, so he could make biology easier for children.

    He was baffled when a four-year- old girl in the audience asked him: ‘‘Does a butterfly have ears? How many years does a butterfly live?’’ ‘‘Even I was puzzled. But I had made an impact,’’ says Sapal.

    The Spunky Monkey too, had a lot to tell the youngsters. ‘‘Two monkeys learn how to live like a urban man. We celebrate the monkey, as he learns how to live with cars and cable wires. They are the naughtiest things around, the most wicked,’’ adds Whitaker.

    For those who want to teach their children about the environment through nursery rhymes, there’s Jack Aur Jill Ki Kahani by audio-visual research center, Hyderabad. For Amar Kanwar, producer of award-winning King of dreams, it’s a dream to stop ecological destruction in the world — envisaged in his Many Faces of Madness, which won the Golden Tree Award. ‘‘It’s time we woke up to the realities of destruction and save our environment.’’

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