'Earth Matters' to air on DD from on Feb 4

New Delhi, Feb 3: The earth is in great crisis today. The disappearance of the tiger is just a symptom of a greater damage to come.

The remarks come from internationally renowned film maker Mike Pandey whose new environment series Earth Matters is being telecast by Doordarshan from tomorrow.

The first series of 108 episode, made by Mike, winner of three Green Oscars, was teleacst in 2001 and had evoked massive response.

The 26 episodes to be telecast under the second series will be a treat for environment and wildlife lovers and sensitise the general public towards the threat confronting the ecosystem of the country and the world, said CEO Prasar Bharati BS Lalli at a presentation of the series promo here last night.

''It is a thought provoking work on the relation between man and his environment,'' said Mr Lalli.

The series, which will be telecast on Sundays at 1100 hrs on DD National (DD-1), will take the viewer on a journey across India, looking at some of the biggest issues facing the country and the world and giving the viewers a panoramic view of the many wonders that nature has.

Each of the episode enhances the viewer's understanding of the delicate balance that exists within nature. It looks at the massive destruction of natural resources and ecosystem in recent times and also at ways to help conserve the natural world for posterity.

Mr Pandey, who was present on the occasion, said,'' Earth Matters takes us on a journey from the underwater world of corals and exploring our marine life to a look at the endangered species including the tiger and other threatened ecosystems of the country in addition to taking up various health issues related to environment.'' ''The ecosystems of Asia are under great stress. Almost eight per cent of the coral reefs of the continent which support a variety of marine life are gone. And our children need to know all this. The series is a humble attempt to do this in partnership with Doordarshan which has always supported programmes aimed at empowering and informing people,'' he said.

It is not easy to shoot an envrionment film. A particular weather, a scene, animal may elude you for days, he said, adding the coral reef episode took four years to film while rest of the episode took nine months, with four units working simultaneously.

Earth Matters has been shot using the latest specialty equipments and after extensive research across India.

''The prime objective of the series is to alert the individuals and create awareness about the threats looming large on the world today and encourage each one of us to make an effort towards the conservation of our natural environment,'' Mr Pandey said.

Director Doordarshan L D Mandloi said the first series on DD had a great run with high TRP ratings and continued audience appreciation from over 52 countries across the world.

The new series to be telecast from February four will be reaching over 800 million people in the country.

He said DD had also decided to dub the whole series in regional India languages for telecast by regional satellite channels.

Mr Mandloi said the series beginning from tomorrow was being promoted in a big way by Doordarshan and All India Radio.

Bill Boards are being displayed at over 300 radio stations across the country in addition to the film's promo being run by 30 DD channels and radio stations.

UNI