Mother Nature imposes considerable levels of seismic hazards in large areas of the Indian Himalayas. This film explores the idea of settlements and buildings in different areas of the Himalayan region, notably Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and their relationship with the landscape.

Sikkim is one of the smallest states of India, with an area of 7299 sq. km., flanked between the two Himalayan kingdoms - Bhutan and Nepal.

This film foregrounds the issues associated with climate change in the Himalayas. The Himalayas are a unique ecological system. Because, it is a particularly fragile mountain system, highly sensitive to climate change impacts, and it contains one of the largest human populations affected by climate change.

Air pollution kills over a million Indians every year. It is strongly linked to strokes, heart attacks, many kinds of cancer, premature birth and dementia, among other ailments. Families are thrown into a viscious cycle of hospital visits, critically poor health and financial trouble impacting their productivity and ability to participate in the economy.

The great Himalayas are a range containing snow-capped peaks; however, these are melting at a rapid rate due to global warming and climate change So far, this has already resulted in floods, landslides and other natural disasters.

India is a nation in churn witnessing significant internal migration within states. And migration is not just simply a movement of people across city and state borders. It has distinct social and the political consequences.

Ladakh is a wonderland of mesmerising, sweeping vistas. With its barren, rugged mountains, crystal clear skies and inspiring visions of a lost Shangri-La, Ladakh is doubtless, a special place.

Prologue - Starting this week, we shall start to present a brief introduction of the films that shall be showcased at the CMS Vatavaran Festival this year.

One of the key objectives of CMS Vatavaran, this year is to start conversations that assess the key issues related to the health of the Himalayan ecosystem. This beautiful region is geologically fragile, with young and rising mountains, usually vulnerable to erosion and landslides, even without human interference.

As we look at the Himalaya from such distance that we can see things whole and in their just proportion, the pain and disorder, squalor and strife, vanish into insignificance. We know that they are there, and we know that they are real. But we know also that more important, and just as real, is the Power which out of evil is ever making good to come…. This is the true secret of the Himalaya.

This year, the CMS VATAVARAN festival and forum will focus on the Himalayas. We shall provide platform to filmmakers to talk about the identified issues and formulate a vision statement for the region.