Actors take on a different role to save patch of green

A chance walk along the mangroves at Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri made actor Parikshat Sahni take on a new role. He shrugged off his indif...

A chance walk along the mangroves at Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri made actor Parikshat Sahni take on a new role. He shrugged off his indifference and donned a new avatar in 1999. Along with fellow actor Raveena Tandon and a band of passionate nature lovers, Sahni went on to set up the Lokhandwala Environmental Group, an initiative to save the mangroves.

Aided by Rishi Aggarwal, P.K. Patel and Harina Kanchan, both Sahni and Tandon take time out from shooting to work for nature. It’s Tandon’s Lokhandwala building foyer that serves as the venue for weekly meetings. Sundays are devoted to cleaning a street, plus collecting donations from people living along that street. ‘‘See, Lokhandwala is sitting on a powder keg of environmental disaster. If we do not pull up our socks and take to the streets to save the mangroves, it will be a disastrous loss,’’ says Sahni.

The group has even commissioned a writer to pen a 13-episode educative serial on mangroves for a television channel. In the process of being filmed, it centres around one man’s struggle to save a small patch of lush greenery amid a concrete jungle.

Story continues below this ad

When the group started out in 1999, Aggarwal, Patel and Sahni were the mainstay. Today, almost 80 people in their group believe the mangroves are their mission. ‘‘Though I lived in Lokhandwala for four years, I was not aware of this patch of greenery. I went there by chance and the destruction shocked me,’’ says Sahni. Initially at a loss for ideas on what to do, the trio headed for the civic headquarters demanding that officials help put an end to encroachments in the area. When their pleas fell on deaf ears, they started patrolling the area themselves. Inspired, others came forward to help.

The next step was to get a stay against indiscriminate cutting of mangroves. As chief of the group, Sahni liaises with the BMC and government officials. The work has excited Aggarwal so much that he now works with a social organisation involved in environmental work. For Sahni and his group, it’s a small patch of green that changed their lives.

Prashant Kishor: ‘Democracy not weak… Those saying people will lose vote rights are fools’

Political Pulse7 min ago

Political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor launched his Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) after three years touring Bihar. The coming Assembly polls will be the first test of his goal to emerge as the third alternative in Bihar politics. Kishor speaks to The Indian Express about his party’s campaign, and the issues being raised by his rivals.

View all shorts

Live Blog