Ekta's soap kills trees
Akela
Balaji team clearing up the salt after being fined Rs 30,000 by the Film City administration
Ekta Kapoor's efforts to recreate snowy Kashmir in Mumbai have left several trees along an entire half kilometre stretch inside Film City seriously damaged and dying.
A crucial scene for Balaji Telefilms Ltd's serial Kahin Na Kahin, demanded a "snow-fall effect," so last week, Ekta's team brought hundreds of kilos of salt and sprinkled them around trees and on a motorable stretch of the green path for a sequence in which two lovers, out on a drive, meet with an accident because of heavy snowfall.
As the shoot continued for more than two days, the salt stayed there, sucking up moisture from the stems of the trees and withering leaves and branches.
Salt dehydrates and kills trees if placed anywhere near the stems, say horticulturists. It absorbs moisture and thus affects branches and foliage as well.
The only tree that needs salt for its growth is the coconut tree, which is why so many of them are found on the sea front.
S B Khandare, assistant manager at Film City, said officials stopped the shoot on Sunday after they found excessive amounts of salt had been used and fined the unit Rs 30,000. He said the officials knew salt was to be used but had no clue that so many tonnes would be dumped on the trees.
Another official said the unit had also placed cotton on branches. Efforts to clear the area were on till late last evening.
Anahita Pundole, who has petitioned the courts against the cutting of trees by hoarding-owners, said this case was not an isolated one. She said she and other tree-lovers had made several such complaints in the past, but no action had been taken. "There is very little hope left for our city as officials do not act," she noted.
Umesh Ray, president of Balaji Telefilms Ltd however denied salt had been used. "There has been no such incident. If we put salt on or around trees, how can it last for long? If we want a Kashmir set, we normally use light cotton," he stressed. Our photographs however belie his claim.
Navneet Srivastava, a member of the production team, said the sequence being shot there with actors Karan Hukku aka Kannav Scindia and Krystle D'souza aka Kinjal was crucial from the story's point of view and could not be altered.
Both Kannav and Kinjal go to visit their ancestral house, and when Kinjal wants to go home, Kannav gets angry. As they drive back home, snowfall begins and their car meets with an accident.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&am p;sectid=15&contentid=2008012420080124025606937c4800226
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