Director Nag Ashwin might be busy working on his ambitious project, the biopic of legendary veteran actress Savitri, Mahanati, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking time out to vouch for a cause he believes in — curbing pollution.
He recently kick-started an online petition asking the Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao and other concerned officials to make the ongoing Hyderabad Metro Rail project 100 per cent solar powered. At just over 2,500 signatures, he’s looking to get a conversation started and aims to get 10,000 signatures, so that he can take the petition to the authorities. In fact, his petition has got support from his colleagues in the industry, some of whom have shared it on social media, while others are trying to pull strings to see what can be done.
“I feel that for any kind of awareness or change, tweeting by celebrities and campaigning by people is just one step. Yes, it will raise awareness. But when any action trickles down from the decision makers, that’s when an actual change can happen. Only then will people consider things seriously. That’s the reason for the petition,” he shares, adding, “I know there will be a lot of nitty-gritty involved in a huge process like this but I also understand that it’s not impossible to do so. In the long run, it is not just viable economically but also enviromentally. Yes, there will be challenges, but that’s what we need to figure out before the entire process starts full-fledgedly.”
Citing an example of how the airport in Kochi is 100 per cent solar powered, Ashwin states, “The Hyderabad Metro Rail is already going to be solar powered to a small extent. But that wouldn’t be as inspirational as the entire project being done in similar fashion.” For Ashwin, the main idea behind his campaign is to garner awareness. “I have been reading about the kind of pollution levels throughout the country. The smog levels in New Delhi last year were almost like a wakeup call for all of us. It was like a warning to tell us that we could be next. And the exponential growth in the pollution levels is alarming. In times when some countries are incentivising eco-friendly modes of transport, the least we can do is set an example to the people,” he says. Reflecting on the pollution levels all over the world, Ashwin says, “The world over, we are seeing images of people wearing masks because the air is not clean enough to breathe. Maybe it’s time we took steps to ensure we don’t reach there. This could be a start.”
