Agent Green

THE environmentalist in Nikhil Gupta didn8217;t take a break even while braving bullets from Naxalites in Gadchiroli8217;s dense forests. ...

THE environmentalist in Nikhil Gupta didn8217;t take a break even while braving bullets from Naxalites in Gadchiroli8217;s dense forests. In fact it was here that the then assistant superintendent of police had a green dream, of unadulterated air, sound and water.

Now a deputy commissioner of police in Aurangabad, Gupta has made a 22-minute film on conservation. And the accolades are coming from as far as Mumbai, with Governor Mohammed Fazal directing the documentary to be screened in schools across the state.

8216;8216;The project was on my mind for years. One day I just scripted it, and then began taking a videographer with me whenever I found the time to travel into the district,8217;8217; Gupta says.

Gupta plays anchor in the Hindi-Marathi film, targetted for urban and rural audiences, with simple sections on what causes the degradation of air, water, sound and what the solutions are.

8216;8216;The film is one of its kind because we8217;ve covered every area,8217;8217; says Gupta enthusiastically. But he8217;s quick to add that none of it would have been possible without Bollywood editors Debu and Sravani Deodhar. 8216;8216;I had ample video coverage, but I needed experts for the editing.8217;8217;

ECO TASK FORCE

8226; Having observed Gupta8217;s lectures at various seminars, the Indian Police Academy at Hyderabad has accepted his
training module on environmental laws for trainee officers
8226; An Internet enthusiast, Gupta
has to his credit the investigation of the first rural cyber crime case in Maharashtra
8226; For three consecutive years, he has presented papers at the All India Police Science Congress

It has been a deft tight-rope walk for the Indian Police Service officer of the 1996 batch, who has under his belt a doctorate in environmental engineering he completed the thesis during his Gadchiroli tenure besides credit for the commendable law and order situation in this sensitive central Maharashtra town.

8216;8216;He8217;s an academician-cum-policeman,8217;8217; says Justice B H Marlapalle of the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court.

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8216;8216;It8217;s very convincing documentary, serving the purpose of mass awakening,8217;8217; Justice Marlapalle adds. 8216;8216;Its most striking feature is that common people can relate it to their lives.8217;8217;

Gupta had planned to screen the film on his own. But then the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB aquired the distribution and exhibition rights and the original plan was shelved.

8216;8216;We8217;ve spent Rs 5.5 lakh on the project so far,8217;8217; says MPCB member secretary Dr D B Boralkar. The MPCB is screening the film in 500 schools in Aurangabad district alone. Other parts of the state are in queue.

The Citizens8217; Forum, a state-wide organisation of social and environmental activists, wants to chip in too. 8216;8216;We8217;d like to take the film everywhere,8217;8217; says chief of the forum and former member of Parliament Moreshwar Save. 8216;8216;It8217;s a fabulous effort.8217;8217;

The Gupta juggernaut has just begun to roll.