To promote informed action by students towards environmental conservation, a two-day environment and wildlife film festival for school children was held in Himachal Pradesh. The film festival was jointly organized by Himachal Pradesh Council for Science Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE) and CMSR Foundation. More than 30 short films and documentaries were screened during the festival.
On the first day, screenings were organized at Vallabh Government College in Mandi. More than 500 school students from various schools in and around Mandi participated in the screenings. Issues of everyday concern like minimizing wastage of water, waste segregation, discarding the use of polythene etc. were discussed in the open forum after the screenings. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Mandi, Surendra Kashyap was the Chief Guest on the occasion. In his address he said though climate change is a natural process, the rapidity with which climate is changing now, will be detrimental for the planet. With increasing temperature, sea-level will rise due to which several coastal areas will get submerged.
On the second day of the film festival, screenings were organized at Mahavir Public School in Sundernagar. More than 400 students and teachers from various eco-clubs participated in the screenings in two shows. During the open forum students shared their understanding on a wide range of contemporary environmental issues related to conservation of bees, afforestation, use of biodegradable material, judicious use of water, waste segregation and safe disposal. Principal of the school Anuradha Jain, in her concluding remarks exhorted students to utilize this information for positive action towards environment in their surroundings.
CMSR Foundation Director Narender Yadav, who was also the resource person for the two-day programme interacted with students and also explained various environmental concepts in an easily comprehensible way. From Himachal Pradesh Council for Science Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE) Akshita Sharma and Shweta Thakur participated in the programme. The film festival was second in the series of three film festivals planned in Himachal Pradesh by HIMCOSTE. The festival will conclude in Dharamshala next month.