Films on Himachal's wildlife may hit roadblock

Shimla, March 29:Big budget documentaries showcasing Himachal Pradesh’s prized wildlife, including the highly endangered pheasant, by Green Oscar winning filmmaker Mike Pandey may hit a roadblock. The wildlife department has decided to give one last chance to the acclaimed filmmaker to seek his view over the inordite three-year delay in completing four sets of documentaries of 30 minutes each, a senior official told IANS. The government has made a partial payment of Rs.40 lakh to the filmmaker out of the total mutually agreed amount of Rs.69 lakh. IANS repeatedly tried to reach Pandey on email and telephone but could not get to him. The government has also decided to initiate departmental proceedings against the officials responsible for allocating the documentaries to the filmmaker, the official told IANS. “The government has decided to have one last negotiation with Pandey to seek his views on shortcomings pointed out by the wildlife department,” said the official who did not want to be med as he is not authorised to speak to the media. (IANS)