Kirloskar Vasundhara awards for four environmentalists

PUNE: Ayyappa Masagi, Vengurla’s Ramdas Kokare, Pune-based

Central Water and Power Research Station

and filmmaker Subbiah Nallamuthu are set to be recognized for their contributions to the environment.

They will receive the prestigious

Kirloskar Vasundhara

awards at the 11th edition of the Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival, to be held in Pune from January 4-11.

The theme of the festival is ‘Save River, Save Life’.

The awardees’ names were announced by festival convener Arti Kirloskar at a press conference. Also present were festival director Virendra Chitrav and chairman

Madhav Chandrachud

.

The Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), completing 100 years next year, will receive the ‘

Vasundhara Mitra

— Organization’ award. The CWPRS is the largest laboratory of its kind in the world working towards water and energy resource development, and is also involved in the field of hydraulics and allied research.

Bengaluru-based Ayyappa, known as the ‘Water warrior of India’, has guided and enabled several communities, farms, and towns to become water-efficient in the face of water scarcity. He will be given the lifetime achievement award.

Ramdas Kokare of Vengurla will receive the ‘Vasundhara Mitra — Activist’ award. Among his achievements was making the Dapoli Municipality plastic-free, following which he worked towards making Vengurla an open defecation-free city in 2015.

Nallamuthu, the winner of the National Award for Best Environment Film in 2012 for ‘Tiger Dynasty’, will be bestowed the ‘Vasundhara Mitra — Filmmaker’ honour.

The awards, comprising a ‘Puneri Pagadi’, ‘Uparana’, citation and memento, will be given away on the last day of the festival