“THE PLASTIC COW”: DOCUMENTARY SCREENING & PANEL DISCUSSION

@6.00 PM, Saturday, January 12th, 2013 at Aashirvad, off St. Marks Road in Bangalore, India.

 The Plastic Cow Video on YouTube

As village after village has started to protest the dumping of thousands of tons of garbage by Bangalore city, waste management in Bangalore has hit a crisis point. At the crux of the issue is the plastic bag -– ubiquitous, non-recyclable, deadly. Plastic bags not only harm the environment, they also pose a serious threat to human and animal health.

Plastic garbage bags with remnants of food have become a scourge for stray animals, especially cows which swallow these bags in their desperate search for food. Over a few years, the plastic accumulates in the cow, resulting in a slow and painful death.The average cow on the street in India today is, in reality, “a plastic cow”, choked with 30 – 60 kilos of hard, congealed plastic, as revealed by rumenotomies conducted in Puttaparthi. High levels of toxins from the plastic residues enter the human food chain through dairy and other animal products.

The 34-minute documentary “Plastic Cow” is a poignant testimony to the cruelty inflicted on the Indian cow, and the impact on both animal and human health. Straddling multiple issues –urban development, environment, animal welfare, and India’s claim to spirituality and religiosity — the film forces us to examine the tragic consequences of our choices.

The film is part of a larger national Plastic Cow campaign which filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court in early 2012 calling for a national ban on plastic bags. The PIL states that the current system of urban waste management is a direct violation of fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution of India — specifically, Articles 14 (Right to Equality), 21 (Right to Life and healthful living), 47 (state duty to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living), 48 (protection of animals and animal husbandry), 48A and 51A.

The documentary screening will be followed by a PANEL DISCUSSION involving eminent government and civil society stakeholders: • HC Ananthaswamy, BBMP • Kathyayini Chamraj CIVIC • Leo Saldanha, Environment Support Group • Wilma Rodrigues, Saahas • Clementine Paus, Karuna Society for Animals and Nature

For more information please contact Nirupama Sarma at nirupama.sarma@gmail.com or+91-99002 64068

A tentative agenda for the evening:

6.00 – 6.45 pm: Brief introduction to the event and screening of the 34-minute documentary “The Plastic Cow”

6.45 – 7.45 pm: Panel discussion, with each panelist speaking for about 7 or so minutes (Kathyayini has kindly agreed to our request to moderate the discussion).

7.45 – 8.15 pm: Question-answer session with the audience, including planning of next steps.

 

See you there!