A walk that unites you with nature marked the first event of the 14th Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival (KVIFF) which began on January 3 with the screening of acclaimed wildlife film ‘The Policing Langur’ directed by Vijay Bedi.
The interactive programmes which kick started on January 4 is what makes KVIFF stand out. A total of 15 events were held simultaneously at various colleges and other places in the city.
The most invigorating was the very first event of the day; the Ramnadi photo walk which began at 8am with 75 participants who has gathered at the corner of Chandani chowk, where botanist Sachin Punekar explained about Ramnadi and then, the group went further to click photos at three sites.
“We had decided upon three spots along the 18km river stretch to understand the river and its ecology physically. This is a competitive photo walk, where the participants will click photos at the three spots and submit their photos.”
The participants walked to Waghzai Mandir in Bhugaon, where Ramnadi flows close by, where they learnt that the riparian zone there is still intact. The next stop was windmill society which is built close to Ramnadi where one can see land alterations and partial riparian zone. “There is massive garbage dumping and water pollution in that area,” said Anil Gaikwad, a participant of the photo walk, who is also an ecologist.
{{/usCountry}}The participants walked to Waghzai Mandir in Bhugaon, where Ramnadi flows close by, where they learnt that the riparian zone there is still intact. The next stop was windmill society which is built close to Ramnadi where one can see land alterations and partial riparian zone. “There is massive garbage dumping and water pollution in that area,” said Anil Gaikwad, a participant of the photo walk, who is also an ecologist.
{{/usCountry}}The third stop was the Nissan showroom in Bavdhan near the highway, where Ramnadi is heavily polluted and after that the group headed to Pashan lake and then the final stop was at Someshwar temple.
While in the city, the corner near the cafeteria of SP College had a large crowd circling a group of students performing a street play. Six colleges of the city, SP College, DY Patil College, Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, HV Desai College and Symbiosis Nursing College participated in a street play competition where the students had to perform on subjects related to environment, energy, air and water and Ramnadi.
Sweta Jadhav, a student of DY Patil College of Arts, Commerce and Science, said, “ We decided to perform a street play on e-waste. We had begun a campaign of collecting e-waste for recycling purposes in the area close to our college. We feel that with street performances, we can attract a lot of crowd and create awareness.”
SP College performed on the theme of plastic and also brought in blind students who showed keen interest in acting. “The idea of bringing in our blind friends is to spread the message that they are not blind, but aware and we, however, are blind in our attitude towards the use and recycling of plastic,” said Mahesh Gophane, who directed the street play.
Another event was held at Fergusson College, where 10 colleges presented their study plan on improving Ramnadi riverine ecosystem. This was part of The Ramnadi Restoration Mission (RRM) , a movement to bring back the lost glory to the Ramnadi. With this goal in mind, Ramnadi Yuva Sansad was held with the idea of the jury compiling the most appropriate and relevant recommendations to be used in the ‘Ramnadi Action Plan’.