Watch Chief Ministers from across India unite for the Greenathon

Media News

Mumbai, March 04, 2010

Taking forward their nationwide Green Campaign to create environmental awareness, NDTV in association with Toyota, will telecast Greenathon, a 24-hour live non-stop programming starting 7pm on March 6, 2010 across NDTV Network. Greenathon, last year had raised over Rs 1.6 crores to solar power 55 villages across India and will continue to support TERI’s Lighting a Billion Lives project in its second year too. The programming this year will showcase a series of on-the-ground activities all over India such as: 100-km Runathon by Milind Soman; Mural Wall Painting on the environment in Delhi; Installation art made from waste materials & Electric Pedal – Cycling to Harness Energy in Mumbai; Aerobicathon; Chennai’s Elliott Beach Cleanup; Nationwide Tree Sapling Give Away Drive; Call-ins and live Chats with celebrities and a Musical Performance by famous Bollywood stars. Chief Ministers from across India will also join the movement and participate in various green activities.

The 24-hour programming will be hosted by Vikram Chandra and Cyrus Broacha. Priyanka Chopra, the campaign ambassador, will co-anchor the event to lend her support to the cause and urge people to do their bit for a greener tomorrow. Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Nobel-prize winner, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Director-General of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) will also give his green message to the citizens of the country.

Announcing the commencement of Greenathon II, Dr. Prannoy Roy, Chairman, NDTV Ltd, said, "The Greenathon, last year, was successful in making a difference to the lives of people living in 55 villages across the country by solar powering them; who would otherwise have been without electricity for a decade or more. The Greenathon has a message that is very important for the well being of our future generations and we are hopeful that this year too the campaign will see participation and support coming from India and beyond."

Reiterating her support for the Greenathon II, Campaign Ambassador, Priyanka Chopra added, "The brilliance of the NDTV Greenathon lies in its simplicity of creating a platform that not only builds awareness but enables discussion around key environmental issues that need immediate attention. The Greenathon also offers a voice to those who are silently working towards making a sustainable difference, giving everyone an opportunity and a huge platform to deliver their ideas. Above all else, the funds raised at the Greenathon will light up the lives of so many people across many villages in the country. Come join the effort together, we can make a difference."

Sharing his views on the Greenathon II, Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, commented, "At Toyota, our motto of Quality Revolution is reflected in our approach to the environment as well. We believe that in order to ensure a greener and safer environment for the future generations of tomorrow, necessary steps must be taken today. Last year, for example, TKM conducted a tree plantation drive at the site of its upcoming second plant and we have planted 63000 saplings so far. Our dealerships are also encouraged to maintain effective Environment Management Systems in their operations. We are very proud to continue our association with NDTV into the second year of this campaign to create awareness about the environment."

A host of events have been organized throughout the country as a part of The Greenathon:

Mural Wall Painting & Tree Sapling Give away: A 24-hour ‘Green Mela’ will be launched by the Honourable Chief Minister of Delhi, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit and Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor Tejinder Khanna at Central Park, Connaught Place in New Delhi at 7:00 pm on 6th March. The 24-hour mural wall painting activity will have students, professional artistes, politicians, celebrities and Delhi citizens participate by painting the canvas with their green thoughts. Cartoonist Sudhir Telang will make a cartoon on the environment. Supported by NGO Nanhi Chhaan, a tree sapling giveaway drive will also be a highlight of this Mela. Cheering the participants will be performances by live bands.

Aerobicathon: Fitness freaks at Fitness First Gym in Connaught Place, New Delhi will sweat it out with aerobics sessions, endorsing the message ‘Go Green’, and help raise funds with donations.

Tree Sapling Give Away Drive: Vasant Valley School and Fortis Hospital in New Delhi will be going green with school students plant saplings and paint a wall with green pledges. At the Fortis Hospital, saplings will be distributed to everyone who visits or gets discharged from the hospital.

Mumbai Runathon: Marathon Man Milind Soman will run a 100 km in 24 hours to reinforce his commitment to the green cause. Starting from Carter Road in Bandra on March 6th and ending at the Yash Raj Studios in Andheri, celebrities like Rahul Bose and Nikhil Chinappa will join Milind during the run. Last year, the Marathon Man ran 60 km for the Greenathon and helped raise Rs 30 lakh for the campaign.

Mumbai Eco Fest: One of the major initiatives of this year’s campaign is to cut down carbon footprint by collecting waste materials that can be recycled and turned into innovative products. Art students and professional artistes will make installation art with waste materials like bottles, tins, cans, e-waste, papers, etc at Maharashtra Nature Park in Mumbai.

Another unique activity at the same venue would be The Electric Pedal, where cycling will harness energy to power projectors and equipments of rock bands performing at the venue. A similar cycle will also be set up at Yash Raj Studios where celebrities will cycle for 24 hours during the Greenathon.

Beach Cleanathon: A cleanup drive will be organized at Chennai’s Elliott Beach at Besant Nagar. School and college students will reveal plastic’s true colours, by constructing the scaffolding for The Plastic Demon with plastic collected from the beach. A sand artist will display his natural talent, while Arun - a physically challenged participant coming all the way from Singapore – will wow the volunteers with a magic show. Also at the venue would be a Tree March Past and models will strut their stuff on land with a go-green fashion show. Chennai’s leading rock bands will perform to fill the air with their music.

Tree Planting Drive: Showing his commitment to the green cause, Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa will plant a tree at Yamalur, Bangalore. Volunteers from Bangalore corporates will also be participating in the tree planting drive.

A musical extravangaza, where some of India’s most well known film stars and artists - Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Jaqueline Fernandez, Dia Mirza, Pritam, Kailash Kher, Shilpa Rao and Prince Dance Group- will enthrall the viewers with their performance and lend their support to the green cause.

Short documentary films on the environment will be telecast throughout the 24-hour Greenathon.

From Gomti River cleaning in Lucknow to the Dal Lake cleaning in Srinagar and other green activities in Hyderabad and Kolkata, the Greenathon this year will be a mass movement, painting the entire country green. The campaign will have a call centre booth at Yash Raj Studios, Mumbai where celebrities will answer calls and speak to viewers who donate funds.

To show your support for the environment, logon to green.ndtv.com

For further information, contact:

NDTV

Aarti Laxmanan

Tel: +011 4577777

Email: aartil@ndtv.com