Festival to screen films on environment and wildlife

Over the years, as the waves gushed around, chipping away river banks, swamping forests and fields, Badal Chandra Mandal's life drifted like a piece of wood in a swirling mass of water.
Mandal has been in a constant state of migration over the last three decades, running from one island to another, as the level of sea along the coast of Bay of Bengal kept rising, which eventually devoured his native village Khasimara.
Mandal's story, documented in the film 'Sundarbans: Rising Water, Ebbing Life', will be part of a five-day-long film festival here, beginning tomorrow.
The event, organised by the environment forum CMS- Vatavaran, will have the screening of over 100 films, depicting the impact of climate change on communities and wildlife across the world.

CMS-Vatavaran will also award Gandhian green activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt and filmmaker Rita Banerji for their efforts in bringing about a change in perception towards environment and wildlife conservation.
During the event, the CMS-Vatavaran Young Environmental Journalism Awards will be conferred on Ritam Halder (Hindustan Times) in the print category and Aishwarya S Iyer (The Quint) in the online category.
Sowmiya Ashok (The Indian Express) has been awarded the Special Jury Mention Award in the Print Category, the organisers said in a statement.