Documentary gives wake-up call to Kolkatans to help reduce carbon footprint
Kolkata, May 9: 'Do you want to commit suicide?' The powerful question is thrown at the Kolkatans in a thought-provoking documentary that sends out a strong message on how the city could be hard hit in about half a century as a result of rising water levels due to climate change.
The 33 minute bi-lingual documentary 'Kolkata 2070' - screened at the Bharat Chambers on Tuesday - revolves around the theme "The City is Sinking" and talks about the irresponsible behaviour of the people in a Ametropolis that ranks high among 40 Asian cities in terms of carbon emission.
Besides, land filling of water bodies, construction of high rise buildings, and random disposal of plastic waste in rivers are clogging the sewage system and creating a severe imbalance in the environment. The sea level rise has already submerged regions of Sunderbans - the world's largest mangrove forest - which has resulted in massive migration and loss of livelihood for the locals.
Directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay, and co-produced by the Centre for Contemporary Communication (CCC) in association with the German Consulate General in Kolkata, the documentary is a wake-up call for authorities to make collaborative efforts towards embracing clean energy and adopting novel technology that would leave lesser carbon footprint.
"When I came to the city eighteen months ago, I felt it's a great city but it has some issues. Huge buildings are being built where formerly was a stream or a park and the waterways are slightly polluted," German Deputy Consul General in Kolkata Jurgen Thomas Schrod told IANS.
"We are in the middle of the water crisis as the Ganges, and the Hooghly have a high grade of salination and all the water-treatment plants find it immensely difficult to cope with it," he said.
"I think it is about time to address these issues and problems and make people aware. We have already started with schools and tried to interact with students and step by step we are trying to interact with the politicians and the decision-makers."
Centre of Contemporary Communication Aexecutive director Mallika Jalan virtually echoed Schrod.
"I have been working on the issues of climate change in Kolkata since 2010 and my main concern has been that people the city are not engaging in these issues," lamented Jalan.
"Every individual living in the city has to think how much he or she can give and my motivation to make the film was to talk to the people about the environment and climate change," she added.
The script and the storyline are based on established scientific evidence and documents including World Bank reports on climate change for Kolkata.
The choice 2070 as the year in which the imaginary scene of inundation is shown to take place is based on predictions in these documents.
Veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee has anchored the documentary, with some narrations by singer-composer Kabir Suman.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
