Ecological Heritage of Gujarat finds a Display in World Heritage Week celebrations

To witness heritage beyond bricks and mortar, Gujarat Ecological Commission, a body conducting all the environment and ecology related activities in the state organised a photography exhibition titled Ecological Heritage of Gujarat at Satya Art Gallery placed within the World Heritage Week. The event also commemorates the 25 years in service of Gujarat Ecology Commission.

This unique initiative of rejoicing the World Heritage Week with an ecological touch has been prepared to generate awareness amongst citizens about the environmental diversity around our vicinity. The photographs exhibited during the showcase are all contributed by different lensmen of Gujarat under a photography competition, where more than 200 photographers contributed 574 entries, and only the shortlisted ones were considered opportune to be a part of the display.

GEC is responsible for the ecological restorations, coastal zone management and conservation of coastal natural resources in Gujarat and the department used photography art as a medium to communicate with the people. All the glimpses projected are showcasing picturesque aspects of nature including forestry, flora and fauna, corals, wildlife and marine marvels. The three winners of the competition Chinmay Macwan, Anuj Raina, and Manoj Kr Sinha were felicitated by chief guest Dr J N Singh (IAS) and with a cash prize of Rs. 15,000, Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 5000 respectively. The gallery was brimming with dignitaries from varied Government Departments, and the exhibition was inaugurated in the presence of Mr Arvind Agarwal, IAS (ACS, Forest & Environment Dept), Mr. Kuldeep Goyal, IFS (PCCF & HoFF – Forest Department), Mr. Ashish Bhatia, IPS (DG (Crime Branch) Gujarat Police and Mr. Asim Srivastava, IFS (Chairman, Gujarat Biodiversity Board) Manoj Dholakia (Jury, Wildlife Photographer), while the conceptualization of this programme was done by Dr Ashok Kumar Saxena (IFS), Member Secretary, GEC.

Starting from the day of inauguration, November 22, 2017, the photography anthology will be open for all to view till November 26, 2017, every day from 05:00 pm to 08:00 pm.

Photographs : Marmik Shah